Out of all the people you know in the workforce, how many of them are actually working jobs they envisioned they would be doing, or at least jobs which are in any way relevant to their skills and interests?

If you consider the rates of unemployment and underemployment in the Philippines which are at 7.6% and 19.8% respectively, the answer to that might pale in significance. However, on a grander scale, the mismatch of individuals to the jobs they’re working actually has a correlational effect on unemployment. According to a recent survey done by DOLE, for the period of January to March 2009, a total of 124,528 job vacancies both local and overseas were posted. That translates to an average of 41,509 vacancies per month, but most of these vacancies remained vacant due to lack of qualified applicants. Seeing this, maybe one of the root causes isn’t the lack of available jobs out there but rather, the lack of the applicants’ SUITABILITY to the jobs available, and vice-versa.

In a recent attempt to address the issue, DOLE declared that they are now implementing the “Project Jobs Fit”, a project which “seeks to identify by December 2009 the preferred skills needed by emerging industries or employment drivers that must be produced in each region up to year 2020 through consultations with stakeholders…  to determine how entrants to the labor force can find their competitive edge by way of choice in education, training, etc. among the priority deliverable programs that the DOLE and its family of agencies commit to pursue and deliver to its clientele.”  It will also inform and guide students, would-be workers and out-of-school youth in identifying college or technical-vocational courses to pursue to enable them fill up available and emerging industry jobs. Hopefully, this would answer the pressing need for a wider range of career opportunities by formulating more training programs that are more focused on the requirements of each industry.

On that note, it would be interesting to look at the role of vocational courses or short courses in the current labor system. The idea of a short course is far from new, but its role might be becoming increasingly pivotal in easing unemployment today, whether taken as a stand-alone source of education or a supplement to an existing career. With budget and time constraints, a less-than-4-year course might sound like a good alternative to some. Here are a few possible reasons .why

• Short courses are, first of all, short. In terms of the length of time required to complete a course, some  courses only require as short as 6 months for completion such as those offered in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). This isn’t to discourage anyone from pursuing a 4-year-path to a degree, but simply to open more opportunities in the various industries especially for people with more a more pressing need to provide for their basic necessities as soon as possible.

• Relatively cheaper. While the Philippines is known to offer college education for an undeniably lower cost than those in other countries, the same sentiment doesn’t exactly trickle down to Filipinos belonging in the lower socio-economic units. For example in the U.S. (which is known to have the most expensive universities),  the total annual cost for the school year 2008-2009 in the George Washington University in the U.S. can reach a whopping $40,437. Other examples in other countries are Canada’s Quest University (about $20,500 for tuition in U.S. dollars), National University of Singapore ($24,000) and Imperial College London ($27,800 for non-British and European Union students). But then again these figures wouldn’t be of much importance to those whose attention is more focused on basic survival and not education. With short courses,  enrollees can already be equipped with technical skills for industry-specific jobs – for only a fraction of the cost.

• Specific and focused. With vocational courses, the curriculum or training given would be more customized on the specific industry it belongs to, focusing on the skills directly needed for the particular industry. In this case, you would only be paying for what you really need. Also, with TESDA’s implementation of the “ladderized education program”, students who take vocational courses would be taking subjects that would be credited when she or he decides to pursue a degree course.  With that, there is a greater assurance of getting their money’s worth by not taking subjects and paying for miscellaneous fees that they won’t really get to maximize right away.

• Generates more career possibilities. The idea of a “perfect” job fit via just one reform program seems ideal, but it might be easier said than done. What if you still don’t feel that you fit into the jobs currently offered? Not everyone can be categorized into the existing brackets. Instead of trying to squeeze into a job that you feel is completely off-tangent from your skills and interests, investing in a short course would grant the possibility of getting involved in other ways of generating income. A sample scenario would be the shift of almost half of the working class population to the informal sector. As of June 2009, 50% of the 33-million working Filipinos became self-employed. According to the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), these workers were mostly displaced employees from companies who suffered from the economic downturn. As a result, self-employment could become another way to curb the economic crisis and other unprecedented hurdles encountered during the employment hunt.

These reasons aren’t intended to compete with the more traditional (and oftentimes longer) educational path but rather, should be viewed from a case-to-case basis. It doesn’t only apply to undergraduates or students, but also to professionals who feel the need to shift their playing field. Vocational programs and short courses simply offer more people access to a better job fit that would hopefully satisfy not only the basic need for decent income, but also instill a stronger sense of productivity and the search for better working arrangements that are more suited to each person.

Here at Entrepreneurs Accounting Academy or EAA, we share the same vision of creating better opportunities in an evolving economy. We are an accounting school and business training center designed to equip those interested in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship with the technical skills essential for starting, managing and maintaining their business.  We offer courses that would give interested individuals all the mental tools needed to excel in this field. We also provide customized trainings and seminars for business organizations.

Our main goal is to help interested parties achieve THEIR goals of becoming successful in their business endeavors, by giving them the edge that they need to excel in this competitive industry.