The Samar provincial government is targeting to raise the employability of its workforce through the JobsNext project meant to carry out skills training and enhanced job matching.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan said that while the province has produced more than 10,000 graduates through the local government’s scholarship program last year, only 3,900 of them had landed jobs.

“I am really eager to implement this project properly and with quality. We want that the future workforce of Samar will not only be competitive but will also excel in their field when they are hired not only in the country but also in other parts of the world,” Tan said on Monday.

“Our aim is to increase the employment capacity of the people based on what the market demands. We will produce what the market needs,” the governor added.

She made the remarks following the recent launch of the JobsNext project designed to mitigate the consequences of digitalization by providing appropriate skills to ensure employability and a sustainable future for Samar’s workforce.

The official recognizes that digitalization and the advancement of technology for more efficient operations threaten the labor force.

The project is in partnership with the industry-led advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) as the local government acknowledges the private’s sector role to enhance employment.

PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas pointed out that the employment concern cannot be solved by the government alone and it needs backing from other sectors.

As a partner of Samar province, JobsNext duty includes capacitating the local employment offices in the job selection and matching process to ensure compatibility between skills of available manpower and offered jobs.

“We recognize the potential that the province of Samar has, and with your very huge demographic. I think it is time to harness that and we channel their interest and their power and their innate capacity to use the internet, being digital dated we need to harness that for the good, by supporting them by giving them the tools that they need,” Raagas said in a separate interview.

PBEd is also implementing the JobsNext initiative in select local government units in Sorsogon, Negros Oriental and Eastern Samar with the support of the Citi Foundation.

The program aims to train at least 1,000 young individuals for future skills needed to land jobs in emerging sectors such as data analytics, cloud technologies, engineering and content production. (PNA)