Your business is our business. Join our senior anchor Rico Hizon on The Exchange.
More Filipinos open their wallets come Christmastime. Can we expect that same holiday rush for jobs? Let's have an exchange with Kalibrr CEO Paul Rivera.
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More Filipinos open their wallets come Christmastime. Can we expect that same holiday rush for jobs? Let's have an exchange with Kalibrr CEO Paul Rivera.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:09 Welcome back right here on The Exchange
00:11 where your business is our business.
00:13 I'm Rico Gizon.
00:15 [Music]
00:21 More Filipinos opened their wallets come Christmas time.
00:24 Can we expect that same holiday rush for jobs?
00:27 Let's now have an exchange with Caliber CEO, Paul Rivera.
00:31 Paul, great to have you with us.
00:32 Government figures usually show an uptick in jobs during the holiday season.
00:36 Do you think this will be the same this year?
00:39 Hi Rico, good to see you again.
00:43 Well, you know, the economy has been quite strong.
00:48 I think what we're seeing now is we're beginning to come down a bit from our post lockdown boom.
00:55 You're seeing a little bit of slowdown in e-commerce as people revert back to their old habits, going to the mall.
01:02 But typically you do see an uptick in vacancies for seasonal positions during this time of year in retail, logistics, customer support, as well as e-commerce.
01:13 You also see an uptick in seasonal positions for BPO companies who support global companies, particularly in the US, who need temporary support during the holiday period.
01:24 And then I think towards the end of the year, as companies complete their strategic planning, you also see an uptick in full time positions going into early next year.
01:33 For companies who are preparing to hire for 2020.
01:35 But during the Berm months, Paul, are these jobs full time or contractual?
01:42 They're typically contractual.
01:44 You know, that's the unfortunate thing.
01:46 They're typically for the next three to four months, whether it's for the retail, logistics, e-commerce or even BPO.
01:54 But, you know, towards the end of the Berm months, you do see an uptick in permanent full time positions as people and companies prepare for 2024.
02:03 And it's also when people begin to look for new opportunities going into the 2024 year.
02:10 Of course, the holiday season triggers a rise in consumer spending.
02:17 Do you think employers are expanding their workforces fast enough to address the growing demand?
02:24 Yeah, you know, we hope so.
02:27 You know, the spending is quite unique in the Philippines that it does typically start in September and goes all the way to the end of the year.
02:36 I think our advice is you want to begin recruiting and hiring now because you not only have to recruit, you have to train and you have to get people mobilized.
02:49 The labor market is fairly tight.
02:52 So I think what we're also saying is you have to be competitive.
02:55 It's not just one thing to offer a job.
02:57 You do have to really look at the wages that you're offering in order to be able to attract the talent that you need.
03:03 Attracting talent is a key term, especially for many retailers and for businesses expanding during the holiday season,
03:12 because they're also looking for particular skill sets from the current employee base.
03:22 That's correct. You know, the skill there, you know, we look at it as, you know, there are functions that need to be done.
03:31 But the skills that we see that are always in demand, whether you're seasonal or full time, are actually the soft skills, communication skills, attitude, being dependable, learnability, your ability to learn new skills, your ability to do customer support.
03:51 We feel that those are actually the most important skills for people to acquire and improve.
03:57 Technical skills can be learned. They can be acquired on the job.
04:02 A lot of skills are kind of trainable, but these soft skills are really foundational for the rest of your life.
04:10 But with those soft skills, are more companies also looking for people who have digital technology skills?
04:21 Yes, I think, you know, with the emergence of e-commerce and really a digital economy in the Philippines, I think the ability to use technology in a productive manner is as important as ever.
04:38 I think the good thing is Filipinos are quite adept at learning new technology.
04:45 We're a very gadget centric country. So that's actually something that we're not so concerned about.
04:50 It's really the soft skills that become a barrier for people to not get the employment that they want.
04:55 Are we seeing an expansion of the labor force, especially with new businesses opening up here in the country?
05:08 Yeah, you know, I think there's obviously a strong domestic economy, a very vibrant, I think, entrepreneurial and MS/SME sector.
05:19 I think many people during the pandemic shifted into entrepreneurship and starting their businesses because e-commerce and digital payments have enabled new forms of businesses to be created.
05:33 I think what we're also seeing is just a massive resurgence and growth again in the outsourcing sector.
05:42 We don't see it as, you know, growth in the traditional big box, big office outsourcing sector.
05:49 You see a lot more remote based jobs where companies, say in the US, are looking to build remote teams in the Philippines, regardless of location.
06:00 We're seeing, I think, a massive uptick in that.
06:03 And that just continues to grow as companies, not just in the Philippines, but all over the world are taking advantage of this digital economy.
06:10 What about new investments, foreign investors, new foreign investors coming into the country and tapping our local talent?
06:20 Are we also seeing an expansion there?
06:23 You know, the reality is I think the Philippines continues to be a laggard when it comes to getting a foreign investment, particularly with regards to our peers in Indonesia or Vietnam.
06:35 I think this continues to be a big structural challenge.
06:40 And perhaps the investments that the Philippines sees are not the ones that maybe the Board of Investments captures.
06:47 You know, you see a lot, rather than a lot of large corporations or large manufacturing coming into the Philippines,
06:54 you see a lot of small businesses who are investing into the Philippines via the talent that they are hiring for their companies.
07:02 So that may not show up in official statistics.
07:04 We certainly see it at Caliber with the partners that we're working with.
07:09 We see it with many companies that we are collaborating with in the Philippines.
07:14 There's just unbelievable demand for Filipino talent in the global marketplace.
07:20 Thank you so much for this holiday jobs exchange, Caliber CEO Paul Rivera.
07:27 And before we go, here are words from William Ellis on the spirit of Christmas.
07:33 It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.
07:38 And this is the exchange to make sense of the facts and the figures and the ups and downs of the business cycle because your business is our business.
07:46 I'm Rico Gizon. Thanks for watching CNN Philippines.
07:49 News you can use. News you can trust.
07:52 [Music]