Demand strongest for skilled food service, construction workers, TESDA says

DAVAO CITY — Food industry workers like livestock slaughterers, chefs and baristas, as well as welders and other skilled construction workers are the most in demand both domestically and overseas, a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) official said.
TESDA Senior Specialist Mafel Joanne N. Gamale said the agency’s survey of employment opportunities has found strong demand for these trades.
She noted that livestock slaughterers, as opposed to butchers, are in particularly high demand in Australia and Canada.
“In other countries, the job vacancies are more in slaughterers than butchers,” she said in a forum here, referring to abbatoir workers. A slaughterer, she added, earns a minimum of about P100,000 per month.
“Locally, demand is high for construction workers because of the Build, Build, Build program of the government… carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical installation and maintenance, painting, and tile setting,” Ms. Gamale said.
The TESDA official said while the agency faces challenges on the availability of trainers and assessors for these skills, it is continuously working to increase the number of accredited educators in technical-vocational (techvoc) schools around the country.
Ms. Gamale also cited the need for more techvoc institutions to expand the programs that can be offered to students.
In Davao Region, for example, only 40 programs are on offer out of TESDA’s 278 ready modules. — Maya M. Padillo