House Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas City Representative Camille Villar on Saturday pressed for more virtual recruitment fairs to help displaced workers and everyone seeking a job.
Villar stressed this as the country is witnessing a record unemployment level and many Filipinos left without jobs brought by the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Through House Resolution 1597, Villar urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and other relevant state agencies to intensify online job fairs to further ease unemployment in the country, accelerate the economy and keep families afloat during the economic crisis.
"Various government agencies must innovate in generating job opportunities during the pandemic and health crisis," Villar said, pointing out that there is an increasing demand for virtual career platforms resulting from the pandemic.
Philippine unemployment rate soared to 10.4 percent last year or about 4.5 million Filipinos became jobless, the highest in 15 years. Thousands of establishments have been forced to shut amid quarantines and plummeting activity.
At one point, 7.2 million Filipinos were jobless in April, 2020, the height of the government-imposed lockdown to contain the virus, while many more workers and businesses saw their incomes collapse.
Additionally, sectors with most displacements included manufacturing, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service, as well as the arts, entertainment and recreation.
"Virtual career platforms assist job applicants in finding unique opportunities and job vacancies," Villar said.
Over 21,000 jobs were available in an online job fair spearheaded by the DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) with mynimo.com in December last year. A total of 600 domestic firms and 15 licensed recruitment agencies participated.
The CSC, for its part, also held an online job fair in coordination with Jobstreet.com.
"With vaccination in the country to rollout in the next few days and as the economy is expected to rebound and gradually reopens, a roadmap on employment, jobs and opportunities must be set in place, taking into consideration health protocols and government restriction on mass gatherings," she added.
Negros 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez also co-authored the resolution.