The urgent and clarion call in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is to forge stronger partnerships with industries that will be most affected by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
Job losses due to digitization are already starting to trickle in, and upskilling and retooling are going to be urgently needed. More importantly, new jobs need to be created with disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence taking a firmer foothold in industries.
According to a recently published study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), real job losses are already happening in the Southeast
Asian region due to automation. While the study focused only on business process outsourcing (BPO) and electronics manufacturing in the Philippines, other industries or sectors face similar threats.
Big threat
The BPO sector in the Philippines is particularly vulnerable given its significant growth over the last two decades. According to the ADB study, the BPO industry has been growing at 17 to 18 percent yearly, and now contributes six percent to GDP growth.
BPO companies have become a major employer for our new graduates of just about any course, and recently, even undergraduates who are able to pass accredited pre-employment training courses.
Even among Filipino students, 25.7 percent of males and 18.5 percent of females expressed a desire to be employed in information and communication technology (ICT) services, making it the top choice, according to the International Labor Organization that did the survey.
The ADB studies also cites the significant and growing share of Philippines in the global IT-BPO market, which had been estimated by the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines from between 10 to 15 percent.
However, the ADB study warns that the BPO sector faces a huge potential for disruption from 4IR, with as much as 89 percent of the Philippine BPO jobs at high risk of replacement through automation if nothing is done to prepare this vulnerable work force.
Shifting the value chain
Similarly, the Philippine electronics manufacturing sector faces considerable threats. According to the ADB study, machinery and electronics both made up 60.6 percent of Philippine exports in 2017, and accounted for two percent of employment in 2015.
Filipinos employed in this sector are valued for their dexterity, as well as communication skills, giving them an edge in a sector that requires skill, but without the high cost. The government has also been accommodating for many companies through incentives in export processing zones.
The government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, together with stakeholders in companies involved in electronics manufacturing have been working on leveling up capability towards full-fledged production and assembly centers, but this is easier said than done.
More discussions need to be initiated by the DTI on how this can happen so that more employment opportunities will be opened and better competitiveness, not just through incentives, of Philippine manufactured electronic products is achieved.
Electronics manufacturing will play a big role in 4IR, even if only to supply goods for domestic purposes. Preparing our workforce to take a bigger role in the design, manufacture, testing, distribution, and repair servicing of electronic components and assemblies presents huge employment potential, as well as an entry point to upscale our capability in electronics manufacturing.
Steep learning curve
Amidst all of the changes that 4IR brings, which would include 5G digitalization, automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, TESDA should work quickly to bridge the gap that Filipino workers will face.
In just a couple of years, world economists estimate that digital technologies will be instrumental in determining how fast developing economies can grow and find new relevance in the latest phase of the world’s industrial revolution.
One first step is to deepen partnerships with established digital knowledge providers that can provide the fundamentals of information technology and electronics. The learning curve will be steep, given that the country’s secondary level students have a long way to go in learning basic math and science.
For BPOs, for example, ongoing knowledge building in digitization of employees should be encouraged, better still, adopted. Starter learning kits, which are often free to use, are now widely available from many companies like Microsoft and IBM that are committed to bringing more digital skills to people who need them.
Seizing opportunities
Last June, Microsoft announced its commitment to give as much as $15 million in cash grants to the world outside of the US through non-profit organizations. While this initiative was largely prodded by widespread unemployment because of the pandemic, it also recognizes the clear path that workers have to take going into 4IR.
Shifting learning to the digital arena is needed using the best tools available. TESDA must find a way to get on this track this year at the earliest, and going full blast in the coming years.
If we act fast enough, the jobs of millions of Filipinos in the BPO sector can be saved. If we are able to revolutionize the knowledge capability of our workers in the electronics manufacture sector, this is one sure way to jump start our manufacturing processes to be on better footing to serve the country’s needs.
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