Despite government claims of job resilience, research group IBON said that the country’s jobs crisis persists with significant manufacturing losses and worsening quality of work. The year-on-year increase in unemployed and underemployed Filipinos, lack of decent work, and huge drop in manufacturing jobs underscore the urgent need for a serious national industrialization strategy to create decent work for the growing population, said the group.

The latest labor force data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows troubling trends. Total employment grew by 317,000 from 48.4 million in April 2024 to 48.7 million in April 2025, while unemployment slightly increased by 23,000 from 2 million to 2.1 million.

The signs of deteriorating quality of work are however disturbing. Part-time work surged by 944,000 from 15.8 million to 16.7 million, and full-time work plunged by 814,000 from 32.2 million to 31.4 million. Those with jobs but not at work went up by 187,000 from 420,000 to 607,000. Although underemployment or those employed but seeking additional work rose by just 54,000 from 7 million in April 2024 to 7.1 million in April 2025, the increase may be incremental not because workers did not need additional pay but because poor jobs prospects discouraged them from looking for additional work.

Wage and salary workers decreased a bit from 30.76 million to 30.75 million. Meanwhile, informal work — comprised of the self-employed, private household workers, and those in own family-operated farms or businesses — rose by 196,000 from 19.9 million to 20.1 million.

The manufacturing sector is critical for meaningful economic transformation and job creation but it experienced substantial job losses of half a million, from 3.7 million down to 3.3 million in the same period. The biggest declines were in semiconductors and electronics (by 76,000), followed by garments (71,000), plastic products (51,000), and other food products (42,000). The big loss in semiconductors and electronics employment may already be the impact of disruptive US protectionism in the industry which has been intensifying since the first Trump administration, as well as the country’s precarious position at the lower-value end of global production chains.

IBON pointed out the serious inadequacy of the Marcos administration’s response to the jobs crisis. It said that focusing on the employability of jobseekers is a superficial response, and that the simplistic approach of attracting foreign investments will not be enough. Genuine progress requires an explicit program of Filipino industrialization that strategically develops domestic high-technology manufacturing capacity and agriculture to create more, sustainable and quality jobs.

Robust state-led industrialization is needed to replace the obsolete market-driven neoliberal framework that has already driven manufacturing down to its smallest share of the economy in 76 years. Most of manufacturing decline occurred during the last 40 years of reckless foreign investment-driven globalization. IBON warns that, without a serious Filipino industrialization strategy, the country’s jobs crisis will persist and keep impoverishing millions of Filipino workers and their families. ###