Baldoz Lauds City Mayor Michael Rama for Pledging Expansion of JobStart in Cebu City

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has commended the city government of Cebu headed by City Mayor Michael Rama for committing to help expand the coverage of the roll-out of the DOLE’s newest full-cycle employment facilitation program, JobStart, to include other local government units and Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) in the city and the province.

“This is, indeed, good news about JobStart. It means more Filipino youth Filipinos could benefit from the program,” Baldoz said after she received a report from the Bureau of Local Employment, JobStart program implementer, on the successful employers’ forum and media launch of JobStart in Cebu City last week.

In her report, BLE Director Dominique Tutay said 58 of Cebu City’s biggest employers attended the employers’ forum at the Radisson Blu Hotel where the BLE and its local government unit partner, Department of Manpower Development and Placement headed by Ma. Suzanne O. Adrosa, also the Manager of PESO Cebu City, outlined the specifics of JobStart Philippines Program. DOLE Regional Office No. 7 Assistant Director Joel Gonzales, JobStart focal person Ruth Rodriguez, and ADP Project Analyst Ruth Lacson led in the forum activities.

In his message during the forum and media launch, Mayor Rama was very emphatic in his welcome of the JobStart roll-out in Cebu City, saying that even if there are only 200 slots allotted for his city, he will lead in the campaign for other LGUs to adopt and roll-out the program on their own in their respective LGUs.

“We have already a template of a very good employment facilitation program. We can use that in gathering all employers similar to what we are doing now and convince them to support the program. We will appeal to their sense of corporate social responsibility in the real sense of the word. What the DOLE can do is to help us explain the program to the employers,” Mayor Rama said.

Among the employers represented at the JobStart forum and media lunch are Thinking Tools, Cebu AI Logic, 16 Degrees Air-conditioning, The Port Restaurant, Alemar Budgetel, Qualfon, EPerformax, Central Lumber, Julie’s Franchise Corporation, Primary Group of Builders;

Metrowear, Inc., Golden Arches Development Corporation, Sykes Asia, Inc.,, my Van Properties, Sarrosa International Hotel, Muramoto, Gaisano Grand Group of Companies, Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark, International Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cebu Mitsumi, San Miguel Brewery, Quests Hotel, People Management Association of the Philippines Cebu;

Cebu Contractors Association, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information; Fame Foundation, Inc., Tritech Macro Systems, Metro Vicsal, Virginia Foods, Simon Enterprises, Wellmade Motors, Hi-Precision, Toyota Cebu, RC Goldline, Sunpride Foods, Powerline, Author Solutions Philippines, Pages Holdings;

Magic Melt Foods, Center for Light Engineering and Metalworking, MEPZ Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers, University of the Visayas, University of Cebu, University of Southern Philippines Foundation, Inc., Golden Cowrie, Dunkin Donuts, The SM Store, Sky Cable, Interior Crafts of the island, Rose Pharmacy, Robinsons, and School of Knowledge for Industrial Labor Leadership and Services.

One employer, technology expert and inventor Edward Dampor, President of BMC Training Center for Welding and Fabrication, had immediately pledged 100 slots for JobStart upon hearing its socio-economic return and benefits to young Filipino workers.

JobStart Philippines Program is the Aquino III administration’s newest strategy to address the job-skill matching and youth employment challenge.

The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, JobStart borrows good practices in full-cycle employment facilitation service from Kenya, Chile, and the United Kingdom. It was pilot-tested in four local government units in Luzon, with funding support from the Government of Canada and technical assistance by the Asian Development Bank. Given the positive feedback from both the employers and JobStart youth beneficiaries during the mid-term review, the DOLE, which is the program implemented, decided to scale up the program in the pilot areas and roll it in 10 additional LGUs covering Visayas and Mindanao, including Cebu City.

JobStart is a career coaching and skills training program intended to help young people jumpstart their careers by creating opportunities to improve their technical skills and develop the life skills necessary for success in today’s competitive workplace through partnerships with employers.

“The program’s full-cycle employment facilitation service is a systematic approach in assisting young jobseekers from planning their career paths all the way through acquiring the best-fit jobs,” Baldoz said, who during the Cebu City launching was in Dumaguete City for a similar event.

Under JobStart, a participant is assessed for his or her job readiness as a first step, and then provided with a 10-day intensive life skills training designed to holistically hone his or her attitude and behavioral skills and transform him or her into a person well-prepared to face the challenges of the world of work.

“The completion of career guidance and life skills training enables the participant to be job-matched with a partner employer for the technical training of up to three months and application of learning through internship program for another three months in a workplace environment. The aim is to shorten the participant’s school-to-work transition,” Baldoz explained.

She said that with JobStart, the government hopes to make a dent in youth unemployment, which remains a pressing, continuing challenge, noting that almost half of the Philippines’ unemployed are young Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old.

“Youth unemployment rate is still more than twice the national rate. One of the root causes of youth unemployment is the lack of relative experience and skills among our young jobseekers, and JobStart seeks to address that lack,” she said.

Source: www.dole.gov.ph