‘BPO, electronics, RE next frontiers for jobs growth’

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April 20, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  Job creation remains the government’s top priority, with the business process outsourcing (BPO), semiconductors, electronics manufacturing and renewable energy sectors expected to boost employment, Finance Secretary Frederick Go said.

Go identified these industries as key sectors anticipated to power the country’s next wave of employment.

“Creation of jobs, it’s everything we do, from the reforms we have created, to attract investments, both foreign and domestic investments. It has one singular purpose, which is to provide jobs for millions of Filipinos,” he said during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings 2026 held on April 16 in Washington.

Government data showed that the unemployment rate declined to 5.1 percent in February, equivalent to 2.66 million jobless. This was an improvement from 5.8 percent in January (2.96 million jobs) but higher than the 3.8 percent (1.94 million jobs) a year ago.

Go said jobs in the BPO industry continue to expand and offer many opportunities to upskill workers to move into higher-value services such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics and information technology (IT).

”We have 120 million Filipinos with a median age of 25, English-speaking, proficient and very hardworking. The BPO industry last year grew by 5.3 percent in the Philippines. That is a total of about $40 billion,” he said.

Felipe Jaramillo, vice president for Asia and Pacific of World Bank said that the country’s BPO sector is now shifting from basic services to higher-value activities such as data analytics, IT support and AI-enabled services.

“I think we all should follow the Philippines’ example in moving toward these more high-value services, at least in East Asia Pacific,” he said.

Clean and renewable energy is also picking up as a source of employment, with increasing investments in wind, solar and geothermal projects, the DOF official said.

“Our weakness is our strength. We get hit by a lot of typhoons, so we need to harness the wind power. We get a lot of sun, we need to harness solar power. And third, we’re also a volcanic country, we need to find ways to keep harnessing the geothermal energy,” Go said.

Paolo Mauro, director of the economic and market research department at IFC said job creation hinges on the balance between worker supply and firm demand. He described the country’s fast-growing working-age population as both an opportunity and a challenge.

Mauro noted that companies are central to job creation through innovation and investment, while skills training, infrastructure, access to finance, labor-market matching and regulatory stability remain crucial to sustaining employment growth.