Over 200 hired on the spot during Labor Day job fairs

CEBU, Philippines — Cashiers, sales clerks, housekeeping, baggers, call center agents and room attendants were among those hired on the spot at the Labor Day job fairs.

The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas announced yesterday at least 206 were hired on the spot (HOTS), including senior high school graduates.

Four simultaneous job fairs were done in Cebu and Negros Oriental on May 1.

DOLE regional director Salome Siaton underscored the need to know whether senior high graduates are actually getting a job in the labor market.

“During one of the meetings of the Industry Tripartite Council in Education, one of the vital ideas floated was an assessment to be conducted by the respective educational institutions on the placement rate of senior high graduates,” Siaton said.

 “We want to know the placement rate of those who opted to work," she added. "What type of industry are they engaged with? These questions will be answered if agencies and groups concerned would do evaluation, assessment and tracer on their graduates, which would be a very important tool in re-visiting the effectiveness of the Senior High program if there is a need to in the future."

Such is need, the labor official said, to address the perennial problem of job skills mismatch haunting not only Central Visayas but also the entire country.

Assessing senior high finishers' employment rate could help identify where the academe sector can intervene.

The DOLE is expecting a rise of HOT applicants as it tallied over 700 near hire applicants, or those who were asked to undergo further interview with employers or asked to comply with other pre-employment requirements.

Latest data showed of the 3,226 total number of job applicants registered, 1,914 of them were qualified.

Around 102 were referred to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for skills training; 44 to DOLE under its livelihood program; and about 40 to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for business opportunities.