P.R.I.D.E. : Changing the Landscape

To meet and maintain the demand of qualified human resources in  Philippines Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector has prompted the establishment of training centers to equip potential BPO workers with employable skills.

These training facilities address the gap between industry requirements on qualified human resources and the graduates produced by the academe.

Skilled workers are important in sustaining the country’s investment growth. The country continues to attract foreign investors because of its competitive labor cost and quality skilled workers.

Other Asian countries have significantly increased their labor cost, making them expensive investment destination for most foreign countries in the West.

The Philippines is more favorable in terms of operations cost. Foreign companies favor Filipino workers because they are easily trainable and hard working.

These call center training centers provide extensive training, for individuals who may want to enter to the growing BPO/call center industry. Training modules include building self-confidence confidence building, improving communication skills and grammar, and being familiar with Western culture, among others.

These accredited training centers invest on top-notch technology and expert trainers in the call center industry to offer technical training and simulation exercises, in order to give its trainees the best buildup and background to ensure employment after completing the course.

Free college in Lapu-Lapu to ease job-skills mismatch

A manpower services company has invested in a school that offers free non-degree courses to employees  in manufacturing companies in Cebu to help solve the job-skills mismatch problem.
Nozomi Fortune Services Inc. set up IKON College after seeing the problem in several of its client companies,  said Alexander Arnado, Nozomi Fortune Services Inc.’s founder and chairman.
“Initially we are offering a free course in industrial engineering with  approval from CHED (Commission of Higher Education) which will be operated under Dual Training System (DTS), which is a preferred training program for enterprise-based training in the country,” Arnado said.
The course was the one most required by their clients.
“There is a need for more skilled manpower with a degree in industrial engineering. Most of the workers now are only high school graduates.  With  this offering they can get trained for more skills specific to their company’s  operation requirements adopting DTS,” he said.
Arnado said that most of the 17 million workers in industrial and manufacturing companies in the country were high school graduates.
In IKON College workers could learn the theories while  their workplaces would be their laboratories, said Arnado.
Workers who  want to avail of the free education can visit their facility for the schedule of classes.
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director Lilia de Lima welcomed the initiative of the Nozomi Group.
De Lima said this would help companies  source more  skilled labor, make workers more efficient in their tasks, and benefit  companies and resulting in more investments.
She  said that skilled workers such engineers were key factors to sustain the country’s investment growth.
“We are already known to have the best people in terms of discipline and diligence. We should then train more for skills which will make us even more attractive to investors,” she said.
She said that with more companies  investing in economic zones and the need for more skilled manpower, the  the IKON College approach was  a good way to address the job-mismatch problem.
“We have brought the idea to PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) and we are working on standardizing this so that it can be replicated in other economic zones in the country,” Arnado said.
Arnado said  the IKON College in barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City has  700 students.
The school’s management plans to expand nationwide with a target of 10,000 students by July 2012.
“We hope to build more schools. Soon we’ll have one in Manila. The target is 18 schools in four different locations by July next year,” he said.
Nozomi’s  expansion plans for the school include Manila, Subic, Clark, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas,
The firm has offices and client companies in these areas.
Arnado said Nozomi was was also studying what courses to offer for the  tourism and agriculture sectors.

JOX BOX: Avoiding Job Mismatch: A Guide for Students

JOX BOX: Avoiding Job Mismatch: A Guide for Students: Gain a good network. You’ll need reliable resources to achieve the job you want. You can only gain reliable resources of info through net...

Avoiding Job Mismatch: A Guide for Students

Gain a good network. You’ll need reliable resources to achieve the job you want. You can only gain reliable resources of info through networking. Hence, start setting your connections. With the social networking websites nowadays like Facebook and Twitter, it’s fast and easy to connect to your previous acquaintances. You can also have new contacts in your field using social networking websites. Aside from helping to get you a matching job, you can also seek their assistance in finding a good company or employer, get a favor for promotion, obtain future clients for your company, learn new things in your industry, get updated with what’s on the lead, or anything that concerns your field.

Have a clear vision of what you are in the future. Picture what you really want to happen in the future. Know the things that you want to achieve and list them. Once you have a clear vision of the specific job you want in details, you’d have a more reliable plan on what to do to achieve it.

 Don’t rely on short cuts. Never expect luck in achieving the job you want. There is no such thing as short cuts in knowing and achieving the job that suits you. If you want to have a job that matches you well, work on it. Go with the process. Study well while you’re at school. Do your best and never cheat. Cheating, deceits, and other bad deeds will only make it harder for you to achieve the matching job for you. Don’t believe when someone says he or she can give you the dream job in an instant, especially if he or she requires payment. There are a lot of scam bugs who take advantage of people searching for jobs.

 Aim to become the best. If you want to succeed, aim for 100%. It’ll increase your chances on landing on the best job that suits you. Don’t settle for “enough” when you’re not yet standing on the very top of your career. Be aware of yourself when you pertain to the results of your work using the words okay, enough, all right. You may be missing your chance of getting a matching job.

Competition and economy are not only the reasons of the worsening job mismatches. High demand for employees is not a guarantee you’ll get the job. If you want to avoid job mismatch, choose your college course and the job that you want to achieve… and make yourself the best to qualify for that job.

Philippine Program for Resurgence of Industrial Development and Excellence

What is P.R.I.D.E. ?
P.R.I.D.E is a unique but functionally precise combination of provisions under the LABOR CODE and a Special Law, Specifically;

Dept. of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Department Order (D.O.) 18-02
Republic ACT (R.A.) 7688 or the Dual Training System Act of 1994
Executive Order 266 Establishment of Strong Republic School (SRS)

P.R.I.D.E is an unrivaled alternative and entirely legal method of effective deploying educated and specially-trained workers to all type of industries.

P.R.I.D.E is designed to decisively resolve the innumerable problems related to labor and management caused by adverse cycles of production

P.R.I.D.E is a tri-partite program composed of the Participant Student Trainee, Accredited Training Accredited Training Academy and Accredited Business Enterprise.

P.R.I.D.E. will ensure and enhance individual success, industrial harmony and national prosperity.