Amid AI job losses threat: Reskill, upskill workers key—Palace

Presidential Communications Office and palace press officer, Undersecretary Claire Castro, said the government is pushing its programs and collaboration with the private sector in reskilling and upskilling the country’s young workforce to fit in the emerging jobs required by the advent of artificial intelligence, which is feared to cut jobs for millions of Filipino workers.

“That is why the President wanted the Filipino citizens to learn in these kinds of industries. We cannot afford to be lagging when it comes to learning. This is the reason why the President maintains that we should learn further because we are in an AI era,” Castro said in Filipino in a briefing on Friday.

She said some high-tech jobs may open in the future that might need workers equipped with the latest technology breakthroughs, so citizens should adapt to them.

“These jobs can give them even higher salaries. So let us all strive and add knowledge so we can go along with the advancement of technology,” Castro stressed.

Castro said the President's programs, which are being implemented now, are workforce development by means of upskilling and reskilling for digital and AI and job skills matching, as some graduates' talents do not match the requirements needed by the AI jobs available.

“So now, the Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Roadmap has been launched to grow and expand the country's manufacturing base and create more jobs. And the Luzon Economic Corridor will help to expand it, build up a major hub for logistics, manufacturing, and innovation. And the President is bringing jobs closer to Filipinos. There are already 46 Special Economic Zones projected to attract P141.2 billion in investment that can generate 189,000 more or less jobs, have been approved,” she said.

Rey Lugtu, founder and chief executive officer of Hungry Workhorse, earlier said that clerical jobs and collection agents are at risk in the advent of AI.

He said even if the Marcos administration has launched AI training initiatives, what counts is the actual hands-on application beyond seminars.

Meanwhile, sources from the broadcast industry, meanwhile, said that some television stations are in the brink of sacking cameramen because reporters can now do their responsibilities because sophisticated mobile phones are now have superb resolution and broadcast quality.

The Palace spokesperson's reaction is due to the recent report of the Philippine Statistics Authority that the number of unemployed Filipinos rose to 2.86 million in October, or 5.4 percent, higher by over 900,000 than it posted in September.