A TOTAL of 176 applicants were hired on the spot during the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) XI Job Fair on Labor Day, May 1.
Of the total number, 61 were hired in Davao City, 31 in Digos City, and 78 from Tagum City.
DOLE Davao’s Facebook post on May 1 revealed that there were 2,201 total applicants for local vacancies from 97 local employers across the three sites.
Meanwhile, there were 554 total near-hired applicants, with 204 from Davao City, 150 from Digos, and 200 from Tagum.
The available jobs during the Job Fair included customer service representative being the highest number of vacancies, followed by sales representative, sales associate clerk, technical support, cashier, merchandiser, accounting staff, promoter, kitchen staff/sales specialist, and helper.
Atty. Randolf C. Pensoy, DOLE XI regional director, said during Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday that employers have the discretion to decide on the hired applicants.
“Other applicants lack requirements that need follow-up, hence it is the prerogative of the employers to decide, we cannot dictate on that because that is their choice,” Pensoy said.
He added that the responsibility of DOLE is to ensure once applicants are employed, they receive the necessary benefits and protection from their employers.
The official reported that the unemployment rate dropped from 4.5 percent in January 2023 to 3.3 percent in January 2024.
With this, the department noted a 96.7% employment rate in January 2024 compared to 95.5 percent in January 2023.
However, labor force participation dropped from 63.2 percent in January last year to 60.7 percent in January this year.
