Headline figures mask crisis of informal, volatile labor—IBON

May 6, 2026

The data underscore an economy without stable foundations. Agriculture and manufacturing are critical for broad-based and sustainable growth but continue to fluctuate and deteriorate, while services mainly absorb displaced workers in insecure and low-quality employment.

Half-million drop in manufacturing: Jobs crisis highlights urgency of Filipino industrialization – IBON

June 8, 2025

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 […]

More part-timers, unpaid family workers underscores admin’s inability to create quality jobs – IBON

October 6, 2023

The millions-surge in informal work indicates that working Filipinos are going on survival mode as the living crisis intensifies. The Marcos Jr administration’s inability to improve the economy’s capacity to generate meaningful jobs is clearly a failure of policy and government’s economic management.

Jobs created mostly poor and quality work

May 15, 2023

The overwhelming number of “jobs created” are merely self-employment and informal work, and domestic work — accounting for 4.3 million or 71.3% of net employment

More ayuda more urgent than ever

November 22, 2022

Ayuda is urgent. Millions of Filipinos struggling with poverty even before the pandemic are now also dealing with joblessness from the lockdowns and rapidly rising prices of goods and services. Expanded emergency cash assistance combined with expanded support for farmers, fisherfolk and small businesses are critical to spur real economic recovery.

Joblessness worsens despite economy opening up

July 18, 2022

Joblessness and informality of work are worsening. Why is the government claiming that the economy is recovering?

Jobless women grew 44% under Duterte

March 8, 2022

Scar-crossed Labors

January 17, 2022

We will likely hear claims of strong economic performance, early recovery, and returning to a path of rapid and inclusive growth. But labor force and poverty figures for 2021 already show how any claims like that will just be bluster or, worse, blind to the daily experience of millions of Filipinos.

Worsening joblessness and informal work can be fixed with immediate ayuda, stimulus

September 30, 2021

Latest labor force data of high unemployment and increasing informal workers should be a wake-up call for government to immediately undertake stimulus measures.