Bossjob aims to simplify job seeking for Filipinos

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

AS employers increasingly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, Kimberly Chen, the country manager of recruitment platform Bossjob, is focusing on helping Filipino job seekers adapt to the evolving job market.

“Many are saying that Filipinos are smart, but they are not given the opportunity; we’re hoping that Bossjob will be able to provide that platform for Filipinos to have access to more jobs,” Ms. Chen said in an interview with BusinessWorld.

“We want to make the job seeking process simpler and to help everyone,” she added.

Launched in 2018, Bossjob is a chat-first, AI-powered recruitment platform. It has presence in various countries such as the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

“For employers, we want to help them streamline the hiring process and be able to look for the right talent within a minimum of one week. It is not about how fast a platform is. It is about are there enough right talents in the Philippines,” Ms. Chen said.

She urged Filipinos to upskill to stay competitive as more companies adopt AI.

“I would suggest Filipinos to upskill as early as they can. We don’t really know what’s going to happen in the future. We can see that there are technology disruptions with AI,” Ms. Chen said.

“One of the job trends we are seeing right now is more demand for tech-related positions such as software engineers. We’re also expecting more demand for data analysis jobs to make informed decisions for the company’s growth. There is also high demand for green jobs and sustainability-related positions,” she added.

The Asian Development Bank said in a report last year that 20% of Philippine workers are at a “high risk of losing their jobs” due to automation. It added the country should tap education technology to address the skills gap or risk job losses.

In July, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the Philippine economy stands to gain P2.6 trillion yearly if domestic businesses adopt AI-powered solutions for their operations.

Mr. Balisacan added that AI will benefit sectors such as retail, logistics, manufacturing, and financial services.

According to Ms. Chen, one of the biggest challenges faced by Filipino workers is skills gap, resulting in high unemployment figures.

“When you look at the number of open job opportunities, it is high. But then, there are also many job seekers. There is a skills gap,” she said.

“Anyone that wants to upskill can use our platform and the content of our partners,” she added.

Bossjob recently partnered with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to boost the job readiness of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates.

Under the partnership, Bossjob will provide customized training courses designed specifically for TESDA graduates, as well as offer employment leads and resources for career advancement.

The job platform also recently partnered with local government units and key regional businesses in the Bicol region to streamline the recruitment process.

The country’s unemployment rate surged to a one-year high of 4.7% in July from 3.1% the previous month as fresh graduates entered the labor force, based on preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The figure is equivalent to 2.38 million unemployed Filipinos in July, higher by 755,000 from 1.62 million in June. The Filipino labor force is pegged at around 50.07 million in July, higher by 3.23 million from 46.85 million in the same period last year.

In July, the services sector had the highest employment rate at 60.8%, followed by agriculture at 21.2% and industry at 18%.

Ms. Chen expects the local job market to be positive in the near term but acknowledges some challenges.

“The economy is expected to continue growing, with sectors such as retail, education, healthcare, and business process outsourcing, and information technology-enabled services showing strong demand for labor. However, some sectors, including IT, telecommunications, and financial services may face challenges due to skills gaps and competition,” she said.

“I also anticipate that job opportunities in the tech sector, such as programmers and AI engineers, will continue to grow. Many companies, even startups, are pivoting towards AI. There will undoubtedly be a higher demand for tech-related professionals here in the Philippines,” she added.

As of end-August, Bossjob had over four million registered users and more than 10,000 partner companies including SM Investments Corp., ride-hailing application Angkas, fuel provider Petron Corp., fast-food giant Jollibee Group, and construction company EEI Corp.

Bossjob uses AI and big data to optimize the recruitment cycle, offering features like an AI-powered resume builder and AI-photo generator. Employers can post job openings globally and target specific countries for talent.