Quezon City Councilor PM Vargas has vowed to champion the Jobs Next Bill in the next Congress, which seeks to provide better employment and skills training opportunities for the next generation of Filipinos.
The Jobs Next Bill, currently filed in the 18th Congress as House Bill 9782 principally authored by his brother, incumbent Fifth District Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, is like Singapore’s Skills Future program.
This aims to provide a skills voucher program to capacitate Filipinos with new and emerging skills for jobs of the future.
Coun. Vargas is currently running for congressman to succeed his brother in QC’s Fifth District in the May 9 elections.
He said the Jobs Next Bill seeks to encourage and incentivize worker upskilling and reskilling to stimulate innovation literacy and protect the labor force in jobs at high risk of displacement due to technological and external disruptions.
“As the country slowly pivots to recovery measures, this presents a window of opportunity to rethink how economies and businesses will react and adapt to the ‘new normal,’ the QC councilor said.
“It is an opportunity to build and shift to resilient and sustainable economic and business reforms that will maximize the realities of an uncertain environment and protect Filipino workers and industries from unemployment crises,” Vargas said.
Based on the estimates of International Labour Organization (ILO), around 4.2 million Filipino workers are at risk of displacement due to advancements in communication, digital, and computing technologies.
Under the Jobs Next Bill, workers from disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors are prioritized to give them equitable opportunities to participate and thrive in the “Industry 4.0” economy.
The proposed program will be synergistic with the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) 2021-2023, in the medium term, as it focuses on policy responses regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the labor market and the rapid industry transformation through Industry 4.0.
It shares the objectives for the program, such as improved access of employment generation with livelihood and training opportunities, improvement of employability, wellness and productivity of workers in a changing environment, and support to existing and emerging businesses.
The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) has expressed support for the bill and called for immediate legislation of an upskilling program aimed to future-proof Filipino workers.