CEBU, Philippines - Specialists in the information technology (IT) industry continue to be the best-paid employees in Cebu while the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector also continues to have the most jobs available in the region's jobs market, according to the 2017 JobStreet.com Cebu Jobs and Salary Report released yesterday.

The report showed some of Cebu's specialists in junior executive and managerial levels actually earn more compared to the average of their specializations nationally.

Cebu's banking (P30,415 average) and PR/communications (P27,125) specialists in junior executive level earn more compared to the national averages of P27,188 and P26,948 of the same specializations, respectively.

Average earnings of Cebu's managers in corporate strategy and real estate are also higher compared to the national average. Corporate strategy managers in Cebu earn P13,587 more compared to the national average, while Cebu's real estate managers earn an average of P81,625, which is close to twice the national average of P48,976.

Job trends

The report also showed that BPO, retail and manufacturing are among the top industries with most jobs available in Cebu and Central Visayas.

"With the dynamism of Cebu's job market, we hope to equip all our employers with all the tools that should enable them to be more competitive in the eyes of jobseekers and the rest of the job market," JobStreet country manager Philip Gioca said.

The report also said specialists in IT and education are now more in-demand than their tech support and telesales counterparts, the latter seen as traditionally more employable by BPO companies.

Fresh graduates

The report also took into consideration the employers' hiring behavior towards fresh graduates.

According to the study, all respondents claim to have hired one for the past 12 months of they are now keener on looking into a candidate's attitude as a primary qualification rather than previous work experience or academic honors.

Second, while most of the country does not regard school as a primary consideration when looking at a fresh graduate's profile, Central Visayas and Cebu respondents consider it the third most important factor, after field of study relevance.

In terms of attributes, employers scored highest on willingness to learn, personal grooming, and punctuality, they would need to improve on their sense of initiative, task management efficiency, and going beyond the call of duty. (FREEMAN)