Employers will tackle creation of quality jobs and how skills development, especially in the technology sector can help support this objective.
With a theme “Reimagining the Future of Employment from Policies to Action,” the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) will highlight this objective at the 43rd National Conference of Employers (NCE) on August 24-25, 2022.
The 43rd NCE will discuss quality jobs creation and skills development in the first panel “Beyond 1 Million Jobs: Create. Sustain. Transform.”
ECOP said the discussion will highlight the policy advocacies of the sectors to create an enabling business environment for growth and expansion as well as initiatives to prepare the Filipino workforce for the 21st century workplace, especially in terms of skills and competencies. Best practices will also be tackled to guide companies in recovering from losses brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and adapt to the demands of a future powered by technology.
As technology is a big enabler in creating quality jobs, this year’s NCE will have Ivan John E. Uy, secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as plenary speaker for the session on “Digital Transformation: Enabling Skills Development and Employment”.
Uy is set to lay down the implementation details of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s. call on the need to empower students in using technology to be able to compete in a highly technological and competitive world during his first State of the Nation Address.
With technological advancements sweeping the whole world, which were further accelerated by the pandemic, the skills required to perform many existing and new jobs and professions have changed.
In the session, the DICT chief will also discuss the information, communication, and technology innovations planned by the new administration that are intended to support employers in providing jobs as well as enabling students to remain competitive in a constantly changing world of work, due to emerging technologies.
It could be recalled that during its national conference last year, the ECOP, together with select industry associations and various government agencies led by the Department of Labor and Employment under the National Employment Recovery Strategy Task Force, spearheaded the 1 Million Jobs (1MJ) Project in response to the call for massive job creation and recovery for the Filipino workforce hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The industry associations include Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, Philippine Constructors Association, Inc., Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Inc., and Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc.
After a year of creating and recovering 1 million jobs for the benefit of unemployed Filipinos, the 1MJ Team vowed to continue the work and eventually signed a new manifesto with additional industry associations joining in during the Labor Day celebration last May 1, 2022. These industry associations are the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors (PALSCON).
The signatories to the manifesto will flesh out their plans and strategies in creating quality employment and how skills development will support this objective in the first panel of the two-day conference.
Through this annual event, ECOP brings together experts from government the private sector to discuss key employment issues, tripartite partnerships, workers’ welfare, economic programs, and challenges in the world of work.
At the end of the Conference, resolutions embodying the collective position of the participants related to the topics discussed are approved and submitted to the President and other concerned government agencies.
The NCE seeks to provide employers the opportunity to discuss amongst themselves and with other stakeholders’ key issues on employment, labor-management relations, and the general business climate. At the end of the Conference, resolutions embodying the collective position of the participants related to the topics discussed are approved and submitted to the concerned government agencies.