Decent Work Country Profile - Philippines

The greatest challenge for the Philippines is to drive the economy to a higher level of growth and job creation. Both real GDP per capita and labour productivity (MDG indicator) barely grew from 1999 to 2002 and it was only in recent years (except during the global financial crisis of 2009) that modest and sustained growth was achieved. Further, employment shedding in agriculture sector was noted but mostly towards services. The recent resurgence in growth did not make a dent on poverty incidence suggesting that economic growth has not been inclusive. This could be attributed to the highly skewed income distribution pattern and rapid population growth rates in earlier decades. With working age-population projected to grow by more than a million annually in the next ten years, generating new employment opportunities to ease the problems of unemployment and underemployment is a major concern.