For its two-hour Christmas special, the last episode of "Oh My Job!" for year 2021, a discussion on the employment prospects for 2022 will be led by Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique “Nikki” Tutay for the segment “Oh Isyu.”

In order to explain the Macro economic indicator for employment, Tutay will explain the meaning of the employment rate, which is the percentage of population in the labor force that includes workers 15 years and above. Before the pandemic, the employment rate was pegged at 5.1 percent. But based on the latest October 2021 survey, although there are an additional 4 million persons employed compared to October 2020, the employment rate is currently at 7.4 percent.

According to Tutay, a factor that may lead to the further decline of the employment rate for the next year could be typhoon Odette, a disaster that could drive the state of employment in those areas affected by its devastation.

But aside from this, the prospects for the next year remain hopeful because of the lower infection rate of COVID-19 due to the successful vaccination campaign and the containment of the Omnicron variant of the virus in the recent estimate. Because of this, there is a return of the business confidence and the consumer confidence with the lowering of the restrictions to Alert Level 2 in the country.

The target employment rate for 2022 remains in a conservative projection between 7 percent to 9 percent, as the nation heads toward an election season where investors usually take the wait-and-see attitude as they await the new policies that the new administration will employ. But it’s a good thing that a plan is in place, with the National Economic Recovery Strategy’s project of one million jobs to continue after 2021.

For the latest issues in labor and employment, be sure to catch “Oh My Job!” on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, on its new time slot from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. aired simultaneously on GTV and DZBB 594 Super Radyo, and live-streamed through its Facebook page @OhMyJobPhilippines.