By Derco Rosal

More Filipinos found jobs in September, but many were not placed in full-time positions, leading to a notable increase in underemployment.

“Of course, because of the holiday season, more [people] want to work,” National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said at a press briefing, Nov. 6, adding that this led to an increase in both the employment rate and the number of employed individuals.

The PSA reported that the number of employed persons in September reached 49.87 million, up from 47.67 million in September last year, and 49.15 million in August 2024.

While employment grew by 2.21 million from August, many new workers are not employed full-time, contributing to a 831,000 increase in underemployment.

This reflects a rise in “invisible underemployment,” where workers have jobs but face limited hours or income.

In September, the underemployment rate rose to 11.9 percent, from 11.2 percent in August. This is equivalent to nearly half a million (460 thousand) Filipino workers becoming underemployed in just one month.

Up by nearly 50 percent (46.4 percent) from last year, this increase is linked to a rise in labor force participation, with 1.84 million more joining, Mapa said.

Underemployed workers include part-time workers, workers with too few hours, overqualified workers, workers in low-paying jobs, and people with mismatched jobs.

Partly, this surge in underemployment is due to 200,000 new entrants, mainly aged 15 to 24, joining the labor market, while other returning workers contribute to the trend.

In September 2024, there were 883,800 new entrants to the labor market. Of this, 802,000 were aged 15 to 24, with 445,000 males and 358,000 females, while 57,000 males and 24,000 females were aged 25 to 34.

Notably, the labor market saw a significant year-on-year increase of 2.21 million employed, with more than half (1.34 million) of the total being female workers.

"Over the past three months, the majority of employed persons were female workers. If you recall, the same trend was seen in August, with female workers making up a significant portion,” Maps said.

“This is reflected in the increased labor force participation rate for women, with 1.344 million female workers contributing to the total 2.21 million increase in employment year-on-year," he noted.

Among them, 744,000 were wage and salary workers, while the rest, including those in private households and self-employed, contribute to underemployment.

Considered the largest, wage and salary workers made up 63.9 percent of the total employed, followed by self-employed individuals at 27.4 percent. Unpaid family workers accounted for 6.6 percent, while employers in family-run businesses represented the smallest share at 2.1 percent, the PSA reported.

Seventy-six and six percent of wage and salary workers were employed in private establishments, making up 49 percent of the total employed. Those working in government or government-controlled corporations accounted for 14.9 percent of wage and salary workers, or 9.5 percent of the total employed.

Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Secretary (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan assured that “the government would continue implementing supply- and demand-side interventions to achieve the quality employment targets” set in the six-year development plan.

Further, Balisacan said that the government is now working to finalize the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) Plan.

“This 10-year roadmap will include strategies to encourage investments in priority sectors, improve the employability of the current and future workforce, and enhance labor market governance for the next decade,” NEDA said in a statement, Nov. 6.