Optimism Increased For PH Job Market In 2023

According to a JobStreet report, more employers have increased optimism about the Philippines’ job market in the first six months of 2023 as job performance recovers to pre-pandemic levels.

A survey of 438 local firms in its “2022-2023 Outlook-Hiring, Compensation and Benefits Report” resulted in 66% saying they were optimistic about the local job market for the first half of 2023 compared to the 41% record in the past year.

“In general, things are looking up for the employment market in the Philippines. The majority of employers in the Philippines are optimistic about hiring in [the first half of] 2022,” the JobStreet report said.

The report cited that 49% of the companies said that hiring plans were back to pre-pandemic levels and another 30% said it would normalize by June of this year.

About 10% said they expect performance recovery to happen by July onwards.

“As we return to pre-pandemic conditions, the competition for talent will also increase given current global conditions. Companies need to be able to strategize on their talent attraction and retention to remain at the top of employees’ minds,” JobStreet Philippines country manager Philip Gioca said.

“Additionally, for the Philippines, we foresee that human resource (HR) digitalization which allows HR process transformation, will make companies stay competitive. Companies should consider what the employees need and want, and be able to adapt to shifting expectations,” he added.

The report said that 89% of the companies in the survey hired a new employee in the latter half of 2022 while one in four companies laid off at least one employee in the past six months.

The report also cited that job roles such as information technology (IT), accounting, administration, and human resources, sales or business development, and engineering are the most highly sought full-time roles by companies.

Source: Inquirer.net