Students urged to aim for careers in IT, BPO, blue-collar jobs

Fidel Magno, head of the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (CDN PHOTO/ AILEEN YAP)

SENIOR high school and college students are urged to take up programs that will address the mismatch between the available talents and job openings in Cebu.

Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP) head Fidel Magno made this call on Monday after Wesley Chiongbian, who runs the online job site Mynimo.com, pointed to an oversupply of graduates in the field of hotel and restaurant management; production and manufacturing; and administrative, office and clerical jobs.

Magno and Chiongbian were both present during Monday’s press conference held for the Happy Jobs Fair on May 27 at SM City Cebu.

Chiongbian said that based on the people who register on Mynimo.com, many are looking for jobs in these fields, but companies looking for people with these skills are low.

He said among the top five high-demand jobs in their website is for call center agents in the business process outsourcing industry.

In BPO companies, he said “it is possible for one to walk in and apply for a job and then when hired, can start right that evening. That’s how immediate the demand is in that industry.”

Other fields where the demand is high but showed limited supply of talent are the IT, sales and marketing, retail, accounting and finance, and engineering and architecture.

Chiongbian said there was an increase in the number of demand for employees in Cebu which grew by 22 percent with 1,269 jobs posted on the website from January to April compared to only 1,046 jobs posted in the same period last year.

“Most of the jobs, however, came from these fields with majority (60 percent) located in Cebu City, followed by Mandaue City (24 percent) and Lapu-Lapu City (10 percent),” he said.

In a recent conference, National Economic Development Authority in Central Visayas (Neda-7) Regional Director Efren Carreon also said that Cebu’s construction industry is expected to grow, which should create job opportunities for Cebuanos.

“The problem, however, is that we don’t have much people taking up courses related to these blue-collar jobs. Most people like to take up courses that will land them in jobs in the comforts of an air-conditioned office. The result is a mismatch,” said Magno.

Magno urged students to start taking up vocational courses like masonry, carpentry, plumbing, welding.

“These are the jobs which are in demand locally now. Notice how everyone now looks for a mason to do some works in their homes. It is difficult to look for one now. If you have a neighbor who is a carpenter, chances are he is also employed so he can’t work on your home immediately,” said Magno.