President Marcos is backing the proposal to continue training workers in the IT and health sectors and require them to serve at least two to three years in the Philippines before being allowed to work abroad.

The move, according to the President, would address lack of human resources in the said sectors.

“It’s fine [because] if they find jobs abroad, that’s good for them. But the problem is tayo dito, we lose the talent that we train… that we took through the certification system,” Marcos said during the 5th meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council-Jobs Sector Group (PSAC-Jobs) in Malacañang on Wednesday.He said the government must come up with a strategy to solve the problem: that can be through providing scholarships, with an agreement that will require them to stay in the country for up to three years.

“After that then they’re free to go,” he said.The President supported the proposal as he cited “brain drain” issues in the healthcare and IT sectors, Malacañang said Friday, Feb. 9.

That was because “more and more skilled Filipino workers seek greener pastures abroad, leaving the country with few talents to support those industries,” it added.

PSAC officials earlier said that the local labor market for those sectors cannot match the lucrative pay being offered by companies and healthcare facilities in the US, UK, Australia and Europe.

Hence, they proposed that the Philippine strategy will focus on continuously training new workers, the officials told the President.

“I think what we can do is to continue to offer certificate programs and train their skills. I think we can do that. There’s no way for us to retain them,” said Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Investments Corp., who presented the proposals on behalf of the PSAC Jobs sector.

“Even in the digital, if we train them naman in the cybersecurity or in whatever advanced technology, they’ll also leave. If only we can get them for two years, good enough na rin," Coson said.

PSAC-Jobs also recommended the reinforcement of Marcos' earlier directive to prioritize the crafting of a coordinated game plan in which the Departments of Health, Migrant Workers and Foreign Affairs, and the Commission on Higher Education can negotiate with other countries on hiring Filipino workers.

PSAC backed Marcos' step, proposing that the government agencies leverage the country's  bargaining power which is based on the abundant supply of well-trained, English speaking workers that is valued by the recruiting companies and their foreign governments. 

The scheme, PSAC said, could give the country at least some period of time to sustain the country’s supply of workers.