More job opportunities seen as economy bounces back

The employers’ sector on Thursday expressed bullishness over the country’s 6.4 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first quarter, saying this development heralds the opening up of more employment opportunities for Filipinos.

In an interview, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), credited the positive direction taken by the economy to sound management by the Marcos administration, especially its emphasis on infra- structure development, which is very labor-intensive.

He noted that ECOP’s leadership has observed aggressive hiring in the manufacturing, mining and services sectors lately.

The business leader said that within the services sector, the food, travel, and hospitality sub-sectors have shown the most recovery in recent months.

“The economy may be growing slower than what we hoped for, but it seems to be moving forward very surely,” Ortiz-Luis said.

He pointed out that the main