Forty-three beneficiaries of the JobStart Philippines program in Dumaguete City will start their technical training Monday with two of the program’s local partner-employers here.
The 43 are part of the 2nd batch of 85 JobStart graduates who completed in January this year their 10-day life skills training.
According to Ma. Socorra Pastor Mira, Public Employment Service Office chief of Dumaguete City, they will be undergoing technical training for a maximum of three months with a subsidy from the said program.
Of the 43, 25 will be training with the Yoldi Group who is into the food/restaurant industry, while 18 will undergo training with the Tech Synergy call center, Mira said.
For the duration of the technical training, they will receive P200 a day which shall be subsidized by JobStart, she added.
After the technical training, they will move up as OJTs (on-the-job trainees) with the “employer” paying them 75 percent of the minimum daily wage for also a of maximum three months, the PESO chief said.
The current minimum daily wage of Dumaguete City is P310.00 and the OJT will receive P232.50 a day.
Mira explained that after the OJT, the program’s local partners have the prerogative to absorb the JobStarters as full-time workers, depending on their output and good performance.
She, however, expressed confidence that many of them will be given regular employment by the local partners, considering that in the past, Dumaguete had shown a high rating in the hiring of JobStarters with partner employers.
In fact, because of its exemplary performance, Director Dominique Tutay of the Bureau of Local Employment of the Department of Labor & Employment had announced in January that Dumaguete City is eyed as a possible recipient of additional slots for this year’s JobStart hiring.
Tutay noted a 90 percent placement of JobStart graduates in Dumaguete City since the program was piloted.
Previously, Dumaguete had an allocation of 200 slots for the past year, but with additional budget available, PESO chief Mira said she is hopeful the number is expected to increase to 300 this year.
JobStart Philippines was launched in 2015 by the Canadian government through the DOLE and in partnership with the local government units where it is being piloted, to include Dumaguete to provide young college graduates 18 to 22 years old the opportunity for a life skills training that will empower them to land a job with the program’s partner employers, said Mira. (PNA/JFP)
