Towards a Globalized Work Force

Knowledge and skills have become very important tools to ensure the competitiveness of our workforce, in the wake of globalisation and technological advances.

The traditional worker simply needs basic skills: reading, writing, arithmetic skills. The “global” worker however, must possess a range of skills such as creativity, adaptability, decision making and interactive skills. The use of information technology and evolution of the global trade and market have greatly altered job content and skills needs. Good jobs nowadays demand new and sophisticated work skills.

The move to e-commerce and e-business brought to rise a new breed of workers-- a combination of one who is interactive, business-oriented, and can understand the business process. E-business has also led to the creation of new types of jobs we have today such as web development, data transcription, telemarketing.

Yet young graduates from our technical vocational schools and workers trying to penetrate the labor market have not been able to take advantage of the availability of such good jobs simply because they do not possess the type of skills demanded by these industries.

Take the contact center industry as an example. Work opportunities abound, but there is an increasing realization from the industry of the difficulty in hiring qualified workers. In the recent Cyberservices Workforce Forecast (Based on Industry Reports for 2004 – 2005 sourced from CICT, BOI, BPAP and member organizations) it was determined that there is a need for 179,206 call center agents in the year 2006. This is expected to increase to 259,800 in 2007, a 45% increase, and projected to reach 506,500 in 2010. In the medical transcription industry, the workforce demand in 2006 is 13,800 employees and is expected to increase to 24,800 in 2007, an increase of 80%. However it seems unsure if this requirement can be filled up as fast as the rate the industry is growing. This is a real challenge to us in Mindanao. It is very important that we have to aggressively improve our workforce or lest find ourselves lagging behind in the fast developing ICT sector. Today, there are only three (3) call centers in Mindanao – one in Cagayan de Oro and two(2) in Davao City.

The Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector however performed well in terms of industry absorption. This was reflected in the Impact Assessment on the TVET Graduates (CY 1999) wherein the average employment rate of Mindanao TVET graduates was 61%. But with the high rate of obsolescence these days, we still need to improve our new graduates' chances of landing a job by improving the quality of education and providing them with skills being demanded by today's industries.

In the face of new skills requirements and expectations from our workforce, TVET institutions that train these workers have to adapt as well. The pressing need for workers with higher level skills demands new approaches and strategies in training and educating workers to enable them to stay competitive and advance their careers.

This will be the focus of the discussions in the 2006 Mindanao TVET HRSD (Human Resources and Skills Development) Conference and Exhibits. The Mindanao framework for education and job training that meets the needs of today's new and growing industries will be the main point of discussion in the largest gathering of TVET school owners ,administrators and business and labor group. On July 4 – 6, 2006, some 300 participants coming from the TVET sector, composed of government and private representatives, industry, academe, labor, will gather together at the Villa Paraisao Apartelle, Mambajao, Camiguin to exchange ideas and information on policies, emerging trends, career opportunities, and critical issues affecting TVET in Mindanao .

The 2006 Mindanao TVET HRSD Conference and Exhibits will provide an overview of the labor market and latest skills trends, determine regional constraints with regards to jobs generation and capability for small enterprise development, identify interventions to provide information and assistance in the areas of job search and marketing, promote the establishment of links between business and other agencies to assist schemes aimed at implementation of small scale community enterprise projects and jobs creation.

Aside from the conference, other highlights of the event are the: Camiguin Trade Exhibit – a showcase of products and services that the province is known for; Jobs Fair – a venue to provide employment facilitation assistance and opportunities to the reach of the unemployed, this is open to all fresh graduates, skilled and professional workers seeking advancement; Entrepreneurs' Fair – a venue for prospective entrepreneurs to find business opportunities particularly franchises.

Our government host is the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Region X Reg. Dir. Mr. Silvano Maranga and Gov. Romualdo of Camiguin .The private sector host is the Northern Mindanao Techvoc Schools Association led by Dr. Irene Antonio of Valencia College in Bukidnon . Technical support to the event is being provided by TESDA XI Reg. Dir. Mr. Gaspar Gayona.

The Mindanao TVET Association will focus its efforts this year in adding a new dimension to its initiatives which is developing a “multi skilled” workforce and improved opportunities for jobs generation and capacities for enterprise development.