Research group IBON questioned how the Marcos Jr administration can claim the country’s labor market kicked the year off on a high note, given the nearly 3-million increase in part-time workers and over 3-million rise in informal workers. The group said that this shows that the government has continued to disguise the real situation of working Filipinos just to attract foreign investments and boost business confidence.

Official labor force data for January 2025 showed a 2.6-million increase in employment, totaling 48.5 million, up from 45.9 million in January 2024. Unemployment slightly rose by 7,000 to 2.165 million, while underemployment grew by 173,000 to 6.5 million from 6.3 million.  IBON stressed however that the seemingly huge rise in employment is misleading, as most if not all new jobs are of poor quality.

The number of part-time workers grew by 2.8 million to 15.5 million in January 2025 from 12.6 million last year. Full-time positions meanwhile decreased by 498,000 to 32.6 million.

Another indication of the growth of precarious work is the decline in wage and salary jobs, while self-employment and unpaid family work has ballooned, said the group. Wage and salary workers fell by 491,000 to 30.6 million, primarily due to the 693,000 drop in private establishment jobs. Meanwhile, the self-employed surged by 2.1 million to 13.7 million from 11.6 million, and unpaid family workers by 1.1 million to 3.2 million from 2 million.

This has led to a significant rise in informal workers, comprised of the self-employed, those in own family-operated farm or business (4.4 million), and domestic workers (2.1 million). IBON estimates 20.2 million outright informal workers — 41.6% of total employed – as of January 2025, a 3.1-million increase from the 17 million in January 2024. Adding in wage and salary workers in private establishments, the number of informal workers could be as much as 35 million or 72.3% of total employed.

IBON said that the Marcos Jr administration is ignoring widespread informality and the real labor force situation, demonstrating a lack of concern for genuine job creation. Instead of fixating over foreign investments that have yet to yield decent and meaningful work, the government should carry out pro-people effective measures, including support for small businesses and producers and significant investment in domestic agriculture and industries to stimulate job creation. An immediate and substantial wage hike can also expand economic activity and create more jobs in the process.