While the Philippines’ robust economic growth is creating better quality and higher paying jobs, it is also hastening the need for a more industrial, innovative, and digital workforce, according to LinkedIn’s “Recruiting In The Philippines: A Special Report On The Philippines’ Skilled Workforce And How To Attract Top Talent.”
The report is based on a study of more than four million professionals and over 19,000 active companies in the Philippines on LinkedIn. Driven by rising infrastructure spend, domestic demand, and the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector boom, the Philippines posted a 6.4 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2017, continuing its seven-quarter growth streak.
The study unveiled the top ten most hired occupations on LinkedIn. Sales professional, software developer and customer service specialist emerged as the top three most hired occupations. This also reflects the country’s growing demand of skilled talent and fastest growing sectors – particularly in BPO representing a range of industries including IT, outsourcing, education, banking and financial services.
10 Most Hired Occupations on LinkedIn
A deeper analysis on the occupations revealed that changes in technological and economic landscape has considerable implications on businesses and skill sets required. For example, the most in-demand skills for a sales professional are enterprise software, cloud computing, pre-sales, channel partnership and solution selling. The early days of BPO industry of handling customer complaints, telesales and data entry and administration have evolved dramatically.
“Much of the boost to the Philippines economy is attributed to the BPO industry. As the sector matures, the demand for skills such as digital marketing and IT is on the rise. For job seekers, it is no longer adequate to just possess technical qualifications but they need to diversify and strengthen their skill sets. This also spells tougher competition for companies looking for talent with the right skill competencies, as well as aptitude for continuous learning,” Feon Ang, Vice-President, Talent and Learning Solutions, Asia Pacific, LinkedIn, said.
Most In-Demand Skills for Top Occupations
“With an upwardly digital and relatively young workforce in the Philippines, employers need to go online to connect and engage with them. Young professionals are keen to understand their employers’ company purpose, as well as work culture. Hence, a strong employer branding is imperative to attract and retain the best people,” Ang said, “While traditional recruiting methods are still relevant, more companies are reaping the benefits of adopting online and digital platforms, connecting and engaging with job seekers at scale.”
Of LinkedIn’s four million members, more than 60 per cent of them are between the age of 25 and 35. They use LinkedIn to seek professional insights (54%), connect and communicate with their network (49%), research companies and people (44%) and search for new career opportunities (37%).
