All too often, far too many of our young people—and their parents–make emotional and uninformed decisions in choosing their education institution and field of study.
The result is both sad and inevitable: The high school or college graduate finds it extremely difficult to land a decent job, all because he/she had neither the adequate information nor the expert guidance to explore optimal training pathways and career trajectories.
All things considered, young people still need a steady, experienced hand to guide them as they navigate the uncertainty of today’s labor market. This sentiment resonated repeatedly at the 37th annual convention of the Career Development Association of the Philippines (CDAP) held recently at the Bayview Park Hotel.
The CDAP is a professional organization dedicated to the growth, practice and advancement of career development in business and industrial organizations, educational institutions, government agencies and nongovernment organizations in the country. It is the recognized leader in the research and practice of career guidance, career counseling and career development, and is accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission.
The CDAP was founded on March 4, 1977, as the Philippine Vocational Guidance Association to promote the practice of career development. Its founding president, the very active Dr. Josefina Santamaria, was present at the convention to lend gravitas to the proceedings.
In her welcome address, CDAP president Maria Teresa Juanita “Mari” Jose pointed out that today’s generation, popularly known as the millennials, will face unique challenges when they eventually attempt to join the world of work.
Working within the convention theme “Understanding, Winning, and Motivating the Upcoming Workforce and Preparing Students for Life,” the participants revisited their “strategic role of educators and formators, helping professionals and human resource practitioners in enriching the lives of the Filipino youth.”
It was interesting to note that, even as the discussions revolved around understanding what motivates and inspires millennials, the majority of the participants were in fact millennials themselves.
Keynote speaker Fred Ayala was quick to point this out. The CEO of Ayala Education Inc., chair of LiveIT, the BPO investment arm of Ayala Corp., and chair emeritus of the IT & Business Processing Association of the Philippines (Ibpap), he advocates affordable private education to uplift the competencies and overall preparedness for life of our young learners.
According to Ayala, millennials share common values with the generations before them, such as the primacy of family, but they tend to be more socially aware and environmentally conscious.
Unlike Generation X before them, the millennials know only of a world economy that is in recession. Digital connectivity is second nature to them. So is a job market that is constantly changing.
Ayala, citing the author Tony Wagner, emphasized: “Work, learning and citizenship in the 21st century demand that we all know how to think—to reason, analyze, weigh evidence, problem-solve. Effective communication, curiosity, and critical thinking skills … are essential competencies and habits of mind for life in the 21st century.”
Clearly, as noted by Ayala, our youth are at risk.
Statistics from the labor department’s Bureau of Local Employment bear this out. The youth unemployment rate is now at 17.3 percent. That’s more than twice the national unemployment rate of 7.5 percent. Furthermore, a little over 45 percent of the unemployed—or about 1.3 million people—have reached or completed high school, and around 980,000 more or 33 percent have either gone to or graduated from university.
This is as ironic as it is distressing, most especially because the quality of talent that we have here has made the Philippines a choice global destination for the high-growth information technology and business process management (or IT BPM) industry.
By now, the Philippine IT BPM industry has generated $16 billion in revenue and hired one million full-time employees.
Jose Mari Mercado, president of Ibpap, says the IT BPM industry is on track to meet its 2016 growth targets of 1.3 million direct employment and $25 billion in generated revenue. But Penny Bongato, Ibpap executive director for talent development, has a rather sobering perspective: The IT BPM industry’s hiring rate continues to languish between 7 and 10 percent. If nothing is done, if no qualitative intervention is initiated right away, the situation will not improve, with unpredictable consequences.
Ayala said career counseling and guidance should be made available to our young learners at a time when they need it most: as early as senior high school or during the first years of higher education, just before they actually decide on a career path.
He said it would help greatly if the CDAP seeks out active partnerships with industry associations like Ibpap.
The CDAP’s career development professionals will surely appreciate the opportunity to gain ground-level perspective of the IT BPM industry. In turn, IT BPM employers will most definitely welcome the chance to help cultivate the global-standard competencies and the work ethic that our young people will need when they eventually join the workforce.
Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol Foundation and education lead for talent development at Ibpap.