THE DENUDATION OF WORK OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDUSTRY-TRAINED PROFESSIONALS

AND THE COMPLICATIONS OF APPLYING FOR A JOB:

Donate Before An Interview, "No Pressure" Polite Scheme For Applicants

But where are the (actual) job vacancies?

The photo shows an outside sign at a local convenience store announcing a job vacancy (used for purposes of reference). Job announcements like this hung at actual addresses seem to be more tangible than the advertisements on job resource sites these days.

When work-from-home employment agreements have become a custom standard at the start of the pandemic, it seemed like a long-awaited move by those who propose that a better quality of life would be achieved when work is not as routinary and is set on a more relaxed “remote” space. This way a  worker can blend home life and career together.

But there is one issue that needs to be fixed with the wider acceptance of work-from-home offers of employers. And this is the issue of job security.   

Whether or not the threat to the tenancy of work can be seen as a causality of the pandemic or an effect of low or reduced productivity of the worker when a home-based arrangement is implemented, the security of workers must be guaranteed even in non-traditional work reporting.  

 The truth of the matter, there is no assurance of longevity of tenure at a time when the longest-running companies are also folding up. While some companies have no need to pack up yet, the rest of the “fighters” try to keep afloat by downgrading their number of employees.

 Another factor that poses a threat to the availability and security of employment locally is when Filipino workers are considered "less qualified" to compete for work positions against foreign nationalities. 

The latter are perceived to be better trained and well-invested in their industries.  Some employers prefer foreign hires against local applicants resulting in the denudation of work opportunities right in a country where Filipinos must have a vantage point.

Moreover, these are the job-hunting realities that workers must have ideas on:

1)     Job security is threatened by the shift in strategies of HR staff. Instead of getting an applicant right away to fill in positions, and posit an INTERVIEW OR PRELIMINARY EXAM, the posture of a good number of hiring personnel is to bank the "unbanked" resumes.  

      Could it be that this is to profile applicants only without telling if the efforts of HR personnel found on job sites, are to hold on to applications only or "future call" the prospective workers?  

      But if there is no real, tangible likeability for future calls, could there be a freeze hire in effect? If there is, why the need to call for applicants like a casting call for the ingenue?  

      HR personnel chooses to savor a period of lull in hiring and wait for more applicants to measure against a vacancy or soon-to-be-vacant post. 

Herein the turnover may be affected because of the wait for applicants that fit in their bill of employers' preferences.

2)  Employment opportunities are further slimmed down by the proliferation of sites that hound on applicants to try but cannot offer tangible jobs except an offer to network; to be seen in one community identified with a certain industry; or afford workers the opportunity to share their qualifications in a social media, in a job resource platform that is influenced by metrics, post likes and search optimization. 

These facts actually affect the prospects of an applicant landing a job offer. We know for a fact ranking applicants' popularity must not be a norm for hiring.   Because numbers do not know faces and values except page views. 

 Another approach to the screening of applicants that slurs fairness is the use of platform-based meeting sites that prompt users to send donations, to the account holder (here the account holder is the screening personnel or HR staff).   

This "donate-at-your-goodwill" maneuver can be downplayed by some.  But when done to prequel a job interview process, applicants can interpret the interview as a lamentable requirement, prior to being hired. It is because the meeting app politely asks for donations to be credited via a call-to-action button, to favor the platform subscriber and not the job applicant. 

3)  Having a tendency to select applicants who can "give" monetary donations; give preferential points to workers on the basis of nationality; or lean towards those who can give positive reputation positioning of HR personnel, over those who need the job more or are qualified yet with local work experience only, redounds to partiality in the hiring process. 

And to all these, all that a job hunter and an employee enthralled in all these work scenarios can ask are:—WHERE ARE THE JOBS POSTED ON JOB SITES? ARE THESE FAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF JOB OPENINGS THAT NEVER SEEM TO GET FILLED AT AN OPPORTUNE TIME, WHEN THE COUNTRY HAS TO HAVE A BACKUP FOR SUSTAINED MANPOWER IN MANY INDUSTRIES?

Count the number of your applications, unemployed hopefuls. A tell-tale sign of the real situation beyond the surveys.

 >>> Commentary. News Review Philippines