One of the reasons for the country’s pressing problem on unemployment stems from the fact that there is mismatch between the jobs available abroad and the skills and qualifications of Filipino graduates and jobseekers.

For this reason, even the huge number of opportunities available overseas still cannot solve the unemployment problem of the Philippines. That is why a group of recruitment agencies are urging Filipino students to be wise and choose the right course to take up in college.

It is also the reason why some group does not really view the recent news of 200,000 jobs for skilled and professional Filipino workers in the Middle East and North Africa this 2009 positively. They say that even if it true that there is a demand for Filipino workers abroad, our country lacks qualified workers to fill up the position. 

Lito Soriano, the executive director of the Federation of Manpower Exporters (FAME) and president of LBS E-Recruitment Solutions Corp. said, “In choosing a career path, do not go for popular but for employable courses.”

According to Soriano, employment opportunities really abound in the Middle East – specifically in Saudi Arabia,Qatar, and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but he doubts if the Philippines is ready to supply needed workers.

“They were at the jobsite, so it must be true. It’s a welcome development to the workers, industry, and the economy. [However], the situation is still the same. We don’t have enough qualified Filipino workers to fill the job openings," he said.

To solve this problem, educational institutions and the students should set their eyes on the really “employable" courses.

Soriano said, “It goes back to what I have been repeatedly saying, the education sector and new graduates should review their options."

He further explained that majority of the applicants who got hired are those with previous work experience. Fresh graduates are left out because they do not have the right qualifications.

Nursing is cited as one of the popular courses for incoming college freshmen that Soriano claims have become unemployable. Other courses are hotel and restaurant management (HRM), and information and communication technology (ICT). Apparently students take these courses in college with the notion that they are in-demand and that many attractive opportunities are waiting for them upon graduation.

“In truth, there are so many graduates of these courses who are either unemployed or were forced to get a job that is totally not related like those in call centers,” Soriano explained.

In a study conducted by Mr. Soriano entitled, The OFW Economic Engine, Philippine Reality and Required Reform Arising from the Global Financial Crisis, he found out that the nursing course  registered the most number of enrollees for the school year 2007-2008. With 420, 015 enrollees, the number is followed by HRM (122,658), IT (114,658), elementary education (94,974), computer science (94,468), criminology (87,370), and accountancy ( 82, 368).

The huge demand and attractive salary for nurses in First World countries such as America, Japan., Canada, and other European countries made it an ideal course for many to pursue. However, for the last two years, experts now claim that the market for nurses has become saturated.

Local hospitals to employ and train nurses have become so scarce as the number of nursing graduates continue to increase. Soriano said that medical institutions in the Philippines can only accommodate around 5,000 nurses a year but the annual enrollment reaches more or less 400,000. There are opportunities for nurses overseas but the ones who got hired are those with adequate training and experience.

The records from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) show that from year 2001-2007 the number of hired nurses abroad dropped 35 percent.

The recruitment consultant said that the said courses have also become popular abroad so many countries need not hire foreign workers for their manpower demand.

The recruitment consultant recommends the following courses to students: engineering, physical and occupational therapy, laboratory technician and other vocational courses.

Soriano also reminds the Philippine government to give more information about the legitimate job openings as the news of job opportunities abroad can be used by illegal recruiters to victimize hopeful applicants.