Five Facts About the Filipino Jobseeker in 2019

Not every Filipino professional is the same, but there are aspects common to most of the Philippine workforce that are worth keeping note of when hiring at the tail end of this decade

As industries evolve due to the continued advancements in technology and communications, so too do the behaviors and preferences of jobseekers. Many companies’ shift to digital have drastically changed the way they market their brand and the way they operate overall, and this shift has also seen many Filipino professionals be a little more inclined towards companies with tech-based products and services, and/or tech-based careers.

Despite there still being much to be desired in terms of internet speeds and accessibility in the Philippines, this preference for technology has not been limited to just the businesses and the jobs themselves however. Local jobseekers have, now more than ever, also looked to it to find new career opportunities.

As of the moment, a monthly average of 75,000 jobseekers continue to sign up on Kalibrr, which has put the total number of professionals registered on the website to over 2.3 million and counting. Through this jobseeker population, and their searching through the thousands of different tech, finance, marketing, and other jobs on the website, Kalibrr continues to get a glimpse of some of the common backgrounds, career preferences, and other characteristics that makes today’s Filipino jobseeker.

Filipinos are, indeed, technologically inclined

A significant portion of the millions of Filipino professionals looking for career opportunities online are seemingly technologically inclined. Information Technology, or IT, was the top specialization among jobseekers registers on Kalibrr, accounting for an estimated 3-percent of the almost two-and-a-half million users.

Related specializations such as Computer Science and Computer Engineering also figured among the top specializations of jobseekers, with the former being the third-most and the latter being eighth.

Apart from IT, Engineering also continues to be among the top specializations of job seekers searching for opportunities online, with a significant number of Kalibrr users having earned degrees and possessing backgrounds in Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, Civil, or Electronics Communication Engineering.

Most are also considerably young

It is well documented how the workforce continues to become younger than it has ever been, as Millennials (those born between 1980 to 1995, depending on who you ask) and Gen Z (those born between 1996 to 2010, again depending on who you ask) currently account for slightly over a third, or about 38-percent of the world’s workforce. In the next decade, it is estimated that that figure is shoot up to 58-percent, making the two generations the most dominant in the workplace.

This is more or less the same in the Philippines. On Kalibrr, an estimated 27% of its 2.3 million registered users and counting are those born between 1980 to 2010, a figure expected to increase as more students eventually graduate and enter the workforce, with some surely going to search for their first jobs and other future career opportunities online.

But also somewhat inexperienced

With youth comes a lack of experience, and as the Filipino workforce continues to become younger, employers and recruiters will notice that a significant number of their applicants will have little to no experience. On Kalibrr, over 60-percent of the jobseekers possess job experience of one year or less.

Despite this, young Filipino jobseekers should not be immediately categorized as unqualified. While they may be inexperienced in the traditional sense, a lot of them are also highly skilled and well-trained. Internships for college students, and online training, short certificate programs, and other upskilling methods are now more available than ever for both inexperienced Filipino jobseekers, and even tenured professionals, to help them garner the competencies they need.

We’re also entrepreneurial

While it rose from 73rd to 54th among the best ecosystems for entrepreneurs out of 129 countries in the 2019 Global Innovation Index (GII), the Philippines is still comparatively challenging environment for starting and growing a new business.

Despite this, Filipino professionals continue to be among the most entrepreneurial in the world. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s most recent report on the Philippines (2015-2016), the country had the 10th most entrepreneurs per head globally, with nearly 60% of Filipinos planning to open their own business in the next three years (which is now).

The jobs they desire are also reflective of their entrepreneurial tendencies. On Kalibrr, jobs in Sales and Marketing continued to be the most searched for, accounting for 15-percent of the views of the top ten industries viewed. Other mostly considered industries on the site by users are Accounting and Finance, Customer Service, Administration and Coordination, and Management and Consultancy, all common aspects in just about every type of business.

And a lot of us are online continuously looking for new opportunities

While the general assumption is that those looking for jobs are likely unemployed, there is also underemployment and the Filipinos’ desire to take on new challenges and/or make a better living to consider. On Kalibrr, as much as 95-percent of its registered users are looking for new opportunities, this despite many of them already being currently employed.

They spend as much as over 18 minutes per session on our website, and contribute over 8.6 million page views per month, looking for opportunities with employers who not only provide substantial salaries, but roles which would allow them to best make use of the skills they have, and provide future growth opportunities.

Ready to meet qualified Filipino job seekers to have join your team? Sign up for Kalibrr and start hiring better today!

Kalibrr is a technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, the company continues to attract the best talent from all over, with over 2.3 million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 18,000 clients and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.

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