Digital skills as national advantage
THE Philippines is known for exporting labor globally. This has shaped the lives of millions of Filipino families.
Overseas work has sent children to school, built homes, supported communities, and kept the economy afloat through remittances.
It has also given the world a clear picture of the Filipino worker: hardworking, adaptable, and patient.
But the next stage of this workforce story should not be solely about exporting labor as raw material. It should be about providing skilled Filipino talent that is relevant in a digital economy.
This is why Republic Act 12063, or the Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) Framework Act, deserves more attention from business leaders. It is easy to see it as another education or technical-vocational reform.
But viewed properly, it is also a competitiveness strategy. It gives the country a chance to close the gap between what workers know, what companies need, and what the global market is now willing to pay for. The law was passed in November 2024, with its implementing rules signed on Feb. 28, 2025.
The timing matters. Last March, the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded a 5-percent unemployment rate, equivalent to around 2.58 million unemployed Filipinos. Underemployment stood at 12.3 percent, or 6.03 million employed Filipinos who still wanted more hours, another job, or better work.
These numbers tell us that the issue is not only whether Filipinos are working, but also the quality of work available to them, the skills they bring, and the kind of opportunities they can access.
For companies, the same problem appears differently. Employers say they are hiring, but applicants are not always ready. Needed are people who can use digital tools, follow systems, understand data, serve customers across channels, communicate clearly, solve problems, and adjust to changing workflows. These skills are not always developed inside classrooms.
Education and training
This is where EBET is important. It brings education and training closer to the enterprise. Instead of treating companies as just end-users of graduates, it recognizes them as active partners in forming the workforce. The law provides for training certificates, competency assessment and certification, with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) as the primary agency for implementation, quality assurance, and evaluation of registered programs.
This structure matters because the Philippines has no shortage of people willing to work. What it often lacks is a reliable bridge between potential and capability.
The bigger opportunity also lies in serving the global market. For decades, the country’s labor export model has rested on sending Filipinos abroad to fill jobs in care work, shipping, construction, hospitality, health care, domestic work, and other service sectors. These jobs remain important and honorable.
But the world of work has changed. A Filipino worker today does not always need to leave the country to serve a global market. A designer, analyst, developer, bookkeeper, customer specialist, virtual assistant, engineer, health support worker, and operations coordinator can be employed by international companies with offices in the Philippines.
Also, the Filipino advantage can no longer rely solely on English proficiency, warmth, resilience, and work ethic. Other countries are training aggressively. Digital platforms are changing how services are delivered. Automation is removing repetitive tasks.
This is where enterprise-based training can become a national advantage. If designed well, EBET can help workers gain exposure to real tools, real deadlines, real customers and real standards. For business, this is a talent strategy.
A company that participates in enterprise-based training is helping build the same workforce it will later hire. It can reduce hiring risk, shorten onboarding time, identify promising talent early, and shape workers according to actual operational needs.
This is especially useful in information technology-business process management, logistics, tourism, manufacturing, retail, health care, construction, agriculture technology, and professional services.
The evidence already points to the promise of the model. The Second Congressional Commission on Education cited an employment rate of 85.48 percent among EBET graduates, while noting that only 9 percent of TVET enrollees were under enterprise-based training. The gap should concern us. If enterprise-based training produces better labor outcomes, then the country must ask why it remains a small part of the training system.
This also requires a change in management mindset. Not every good employee is automatically a good trainer. Supervisors need to learn how to coach. Human resource teams need to design training pathways. Business owners need to see workforce development as an investment, not an interruption.
Government, for its part, must make participation simple enough for companies, especially small and medium enterprises that may not have large human resources (HR) departments.
There is also a cultural issue. Technical and vocational training has too often been treated as a second option. This view is outdated. A country that wants to compete in the digital era needs technicians, coders, machine operators, caregivers, digital marketers, bookkeepers, electricians, logistics workers, food technologists, service professionals, and skilled tradespeople. These are the foundations of a working economy.
The next national advantage should be skilled Filipino talent ready for the digital world.
Kay Calpo Lugtu is chief operating officer of Hungry Workhorse, a digital and culture transformation firm. She may be reached at [email protected].