Editorial 16(1)

2005-06 VOL 16 NO 1

EDITOR’S NOTE: The editorial of the 2005 Scientia issue lamented the ongoing scarcity of jobs in the country for college graduates, accounting fellow scientists who either resorted to applying for jobs wherein they are overqualified such as call center agencies or left for other countries that provide better opportunities. Thirteen years after its publication, the same story still unfolds: for scientists; the lack of industries in the country means substantially lesser to no opportunities for them to fully utilize their specialization, and the “brain gain” initiative Balik Scientist Program of the Department of Science and Technology fails to attract overseas Filipino scientists whose research requires state-of-the-art technology. Add to this the exploitation of workers (in the science sector or not) through contractualization, an insulting minimum wage (e.g. NutriAsia), and the displace ment of workers in order to secure the targeted profit quota of companies and/or to avoid labor executive orders of regularizing employees (e.g. PLDT).

FOR THE STUDENT, four to five years of back-breaking struggle to obtain a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in any of the courses offered by the CS serves as good training for whatever line of work he/she may end up in upon graduation. Tongue in cheek, the CS has yet to cover considerable ground in terms of advancing its facilities and equipment (read: lack of funding). This makes even the most routine of procedures in better funded institutions laborious if not altogether impossible here. In order to persevere in these constrained and difficult conditions, students are taught earlier on the value of adaptability. Wherever scarcity abounds, resourcefulness is a cardinal virtue. This resourcefulness provides the students of the college with an invaluable tool which may help them in whatever endeavor they may immerse themselves in following their graduation from the University.

The present socio-economic situation presents itself as an ideal application of this ‘adapt or die’ rhetoric. In the face of widespread unemployment, fresh graduates fishing for placements continually find that the problem of finding the job has to take a backseat to finding a job. It is not uncommon to find overqualified college graduates working in what in other countries are high-school graduate-level jobs.

This current administration prides itself at having created thousands of new jobs. To be fair, it is a noteworthy cause anywhere in the world for a government to actively work towards the alleviation of unemployment for its people. As a matter of fact, it is an integral part of its mandate to govern.

Job outsourcing by international companies has opened a new niche for prospective job-seekers in the form of such places as the call center. For the most part, the jobs offered in these places require little prior work experience and neither do these require any degree in particular.

At face value it may seem like these jobs are the panaceas, the cure-alls of the country’s unemployment woes; however

in the long run it may seem to be quite the contrary. On the surface, these jobs are fantastic — quick fix and no frills. The problem emerges only when the surface is scratched to reveal concerns which are shared by many of the highly trained graduates of this country, among the ranks of which CS graduates belong, and that is the problem of skills utilization. Call centers are no place for chemists, mathematicians, and molecular biologists; and yet still somehow they end up there. This phenomenon is not isolated in nature. It is not simply a matter of unfortunate circumstance on the part of these graduates. This is symptomatic of a larger malady which exists on a societal level.

The American sociologist, C. Wright Mills emphasizes this point just made. He writes:

“When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million, 15 million are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed.”

Mills was referring to the idea of unemployment above; however it would not seem at all a logical faux to stipulate that his argument would also apply to circumstances where there had been a lack of appropriate jobs for skilled graduates. This would after all be another manifestation of the collapse of “the very structure of opportunities”.

To master any craft, a logical prerequisite is its practice. Anything that is not utilized suffers with disuse. Be it a language, or a trade skill, the general rule is ‘use it or lose it’. In this country the trend seems to favor the latter. The lack of appropriate job opportunities encourages on one hand the emigration of Filipino graduates to other countries where better work opportunities exist and on the other hand the abandonment of their profession in favor of whatever jobs are available locally.

Between the two, the choice is hardly ever simple. Regrettably it is something fewer people may have to make if only the government has been more effective in its drive to generate more and better jobs in the country. To be fair, this is for the most part a difficult task given the current economic situation; but it is by no means impossible. The government is most certainly doing its share in surmounting this problem; however one is left to wonder, one cannot help but wonder, if it is doing enough. More often than not, it seems that politicking needs to take precedence over other more consequential matters such as addressing the needs of the people — this problem has all the hallmarks of government ineptitude.

If this government desires to resolve the problems of its people not least of which is the lack of job opportunities, it has to begin to reassess its priorities. It needs to ask itself if it is enough to simply provide band-aid solutions to the clearly systemic ailments of this country. By being more prudent in its approach to employment generation and by being less bureaucratic in its methodologies for attaining this goal it stands to make in roads in its fight against joblessness.

The peoples of old had a gift of being optimistic in the face of difficulties. The Greek word Kyros was used to refer to great opportunities that were ripe for the taking. These chances often presented themselves in the face of adversity and once taken and used wisely, profoundly changed the course of history for the better.

The Philippine government is now faced with one such Kyros moment. At no other time has it stood a better chance of positively impacting the welfare of its people than now. By implementing the necessary reforms and more actively engaging the problems at hand (especially with regard to unemployment) it stands to gain everything (for itself and more importantly) for its people. ●