National Employment Recovery Strategy

The National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) 2021-2022 is an employment recovery plan using the whole-of-society approach and anchored on the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and ReCharge.PH expanding the “Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan” (jobs, businesses, livelihood) initiative in consideration of the changes in the labor market brought by the pandemic and the accelerated adoption of new technologies.
Executive Order 140 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last June 25 officially adopted the NERS as the national government’s master plan for the revival of the labor market aimed at promoting and implementing job-generating programs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the NERS’ agenda are to create a policy environment that encourages a generation of more employment opportunities and to improve employability, wellness, and productivity of workers. The NERS likewise intends to provide support to existing and emerging businesses.
EO 140 institutionalizes the NERS Task Force composed of 20 agencies chaired by the Sec. Ramon M. Lopez of the Department of Trade and Industry, with co-chairs Department of Labor and Employment Sec. Silvestre H. Bello III and Director-General Isidro S. Lapeña of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Members of the inter-agency task force are the Departments of Transportation, Tourism, Public Works and Highways, Science and Technology, Social Welfare and Development, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Interior and Local Government, Information and Communications Technology, Environment and Natural Resources, Education, Finance, and Budget and Management; as well as the Commission on Higher Education, National Security Council, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, and National Economic and Development Authority.
The task force’s powers and functions include formulating the NERS Action Plan and addressing the recovery of the labor market and the prevailing employment issues; and harmonizing the employment, livelihood, and training projects and programs of the national government towards the preservation and creation of more jobs.
Task force members must evaluate NERS’ policies and effectiveness every three months and submit its report to the Office of the President.
Under EO 140, the NERS is to precipitate the recovery of the labor market through the creation of a policy environment that encourages generation of and improved access to employment, livelihood, and training opportunities; the improvement of employability, wellness, and productivity of workers; and the provision of support to existing and emerging businesses, ensuring the preservation of employment.
Bello encourages students and jobseekers to visit its online database of career guides to help them in making better informed career decisions. DOLE aims to supplement the employment recovery efforts of the government under the NERS by providing accurate and timely labor market information to the public.
Students who will soon be joining the workforce and Filipinos looking for employment will find the pamphlet useful as it contains relevant information per job title, such as nature of work, basic educational requirements, skills and competencies, attributes, employment opportunities, and cost of education and training.
The database is accessible at Careerinfo.ph which is developed by the DOLE-Bureau of Local Employment (BLE). It contains 123 career information pamphlets on “green jobs” and in-demand occupations. Driven by the labor market changes amid the pandemic, some of the in demand occupations in the fields of information technology, construction, and healthcare are based on the DOLE’s JobsFit 2022 Labor Market Information Report.
To ensure information is up-to-date and accurate, the system is designed to be responsive to feedback from the public. It also encourages labor market experts, human resource managers, career guidance professionals, and other stakeholders to sign up as contributors to the website and propose revisions to the guides published, as well as put forward supplementary materials for consideration.
Apart from career guides, the website also serves as a repository of BLE’s latest labor market information reports and publications and local employment updates.
For information on how workers infected by the Covid-19 can apply for a financial assistance to the Employees’ Compensation Commission, visit www.facebook.com/ecc.official.