By this time, or at the latest, next week, most of the 850 or so colleges and universities in the country would have completed their graduation ceremonies. For the parents, the occasion is a culmination of years of struggle to provide for the financial and psychological needs of their children as they prepare for their future. The joy of seeing their children complete their education is indescribable.
After the euphoria of graduation has died down, the approximately 400,000 new entrants to the country’s labor force would have to confront the reality that their diploma is not a confirmed ticket for gainful employment or livelihood. Up to the 1980s, a sheepskin from so-called elite Metro Manila schools was considered sufficient qualification for employment in reputable business establishments. The privileged graduates supposedly did not have to go job hunting; the jobs went looking for them.
Not anymore. The iconic learning institutions ceased to have a “monopoly” of excellence in training and education. The results of government licensure examinations in recent years have shown that graduates of lesser known schools, including “promdis” (or those from the provinces) can compete toe to toe with their Metro Manila counterpart and, in many instances, beat them in the rankings.
Job fairs
It is unfortunate the growth in our economy has not translated to meaningful employment for people who are willing and able to work, especially those who strived hard to earn college degrees. Although helpful, the job fairs that newspaper and civic groups organize from time to time have not eased the unemployment problem.
For one reason or another, many of the applicants who pack the job fairs return home empty handed or unsure whether they will ever hear from the companies they applied with. If graduates of Metro Manila schools have problems looking for jobs in the National Capital Region (the financial and commercial center of the country), those coming from the provinces have more reason to worry. Their hometowns, including the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao and Cagayan de Oro, have limited business or job-creation opportunities.
Unless the existing businesses in these areas have concrete expansion plans, they can only accommodate a handful of, say, accounting or engineering graduates to meet their operational requirements. Those who fail to make the cut, either because they are unqualified or there are no more slots available, have no choice but look elsewhere for work or accept employment in jobs that require skills different from what they studied for in college.
Alternative
The default mode for unsuccessful job applicants is, no offense meant, employment in business process outsourcing companies (more popularly known as call centers) that require them to observe odd working hours. Faced with the prospect of unemployment in their hometowns (and not wanting to disappoint their parents who look to them for financial salvation), many provincial graduates are forced to try their luck in Metro Manila.
Thanks to print and TV advertisements, Metro Manila is still viewed by majority of our countrymen in the provinces as a place where the living is good and the money easy to earn. Once in the metropolis, the job seeking graduates add to the already swollen ranks of college graduates competing for whatever jobs may still be available for them. The job hunting becomes more difficult for provincial graduates because they are often discriminated against by company personnel in favor of products of Metro Manila schools.
Dismayed by repeated job turndowns and unwilling to disappoint the folks back home, the provincial graduates become prey to unscrupulous labor recruiters who promise non-existent high-paying jobs abroad. The cycle of exploitation begins shortly after the bogus work documents are signed and the recruitment fees and charges are paid.
Prospects
We have thank our stars that the mass of our unemployed graduates have not, unlike some countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe, taken to the streets to protest the lack of jobs. For a person in his middle or late 20s who, after spending four or five years in college, brimming with energy and enthusiasm to prove his worth to parents who worked hard to give him a good education, it is very frustrating to be unable to find gainful employment or livelihood in spite of repeated efforts.
The sense of desperation becomes more acute when he sees that money that is meant for the construction of infrastructure needed to improve the economy or to fund livelihood projects go to the pockets of corrupt government officials. The benefits of the much-ballyhooed growth of the economy under the Aquino administration have yet to be enjoyed by the thousands of young Filipinos who enter the labor force every year.
Whichever way you look at it, economic growth without substantive job creation is a big joke. How long the unemployed graduates will be able to keep their cool and rest content with the thought that it will not be long before they can put to good use their college education is a big question mark.
Let’s not wait to reach the tipping point. The results could be disastrous to our country.
For comments, send your e-mail to rpalabrica@inquirer.com.ph.