The World Bank believes that an additional 5.1 million jobs can be created in the Philippines during the next 15 years if the country fast-tracks reforms conducive to labor market growth and enhancement.

In an April 18 brief, the Washington-based multilateral lender said that an upcoming Country Growth and Jobs Report (CGJR) on the Philippines analyzed existing barriers to faster creation of better-quality jobs in the country.

According to the World Bank, the soon-to-be-published report found that "while the Philippines has made notable progress—doubling its GDP [gross domestic product] and creating 11.7 million jobs since 2010—further gains hinge on achieving four key outcomes: sustaining spatial convergence, unlocking productivity and innovation, improving resource allocation, and reversing the inward shift of the economy."

"To achieve these outcomes, the report proposes a set of priority reforms. For spatial convergence, the focus is on doubling down on inter- and intra-island connectivity infrastructure. For productivity and innovation, the report calls for partnering with the private sector to upskill and reskill the labor force, enabling wider technology adoption," the World Bank said.

"For improved resource allocation, [the report] emphasizes the streamlining of regulations and the full implementation of competition reforms. And to reverse the inward shift, it highlights the importance of deeper regional integration and increased competition to reduce logistics costs," the lender added.

To improve both the quantity and quality of jobs in the Philippines, the World Bank said its proposed reforms should be fully implemented.

These reform proposals would foster productivity-driven labor demand growth as well as greater participation—especially among women—in the labor force, the World Bank claimed.

"Real wages would also rise by an estimated 12.9 percent by 2040" if these reforms are pursued, according to the World Bank.

The World Bank also disclosed that a new inclusive growth and jobs development policy loan (DPL) for the Philippines is in the works to "support the creation of more and better jobs by tackling key constraints to private sector investment, skills development, and labor market participation."

While it did not yet reveal details of the forthcoming fresh financing, the World Bank said this DPL would foster a more inclusive and competitive business environment in the country via reforms that enhance access to finance, improve the efficiency of logistics and transport systems, modernize training, as well as reduce the burden from regulations.

"It incentivizes firm-level innovation and SME [small and medium enterprise] growth while formalizing and upskilling key segments of the workforce, including women and youth. These efforts are complemented by measures to improve early childhood development and align fiscal policies to support sustainable economic expansion—laying a foundation for the acceleration of job-rich, inclusive growth," the World Bank said.