Austrade Manila recently organised a Future of Work Symposium on behalf of Macquarie University in Makati City, Philippines. The symposium focused on the implications of the future of work on the labour market.
As the lines between human and machine intersect, the future of work remains uncertain among Filipinos. So much is being said about how the Fourth Industrial Revolution is shaking up the working world, with predictions stating that thousands of jobs could soon be lost to automation.
According to an online survey covering six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members which the World Economic Forum published on 16 August 2019, more than half of Filipino youth want to go abroad to secure employment, while the Philippines had the smallest percentage of this segment saying they would like to stay in the country to work.
In terms of acknowledgement of the need for “lifelong learning”, Gillian Cortez of Business World 2019, states that the Philippines had the highest percentage of respondents who believe their “current education and skills are already out of date.”
The Future of Work Symposium’s program provided an interactive panel discussion on the issues facing businesses in an environment of digital transformation, required skills for employability in the new workforce and challenges related to hiring, on-boarding and training people.
The event was attended by over 50 high-level representatives across multiple sectors including government, private sector and academia.
As a value add to Macquarie University’s program in Manila, Austrade organised a speaking opportunity for Dr Lan Snell at a business briefing of the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce at Clark, Pampanga.
Around 30 Australian businesses, business process outsourcing centres and multinational companies based in the Clark Freeport and Economic Zone attended the event.
