HELP WANTED

Here is a typical local job wanted advertisement box that you'll find on leading newspapers today and specially on Sundays:

WORKER NEEDED

Female Only

not more than 28 years old

with at least 1 year experience

What's my interpretation?

Female Only

Well, if you're a male you got no chance of getting a job there and believe me, majority of the ads that you'll find on newspapers these days prefers female workers than male for reasons that aren't so clear to me.

I'm going to generalize that this would mean that there are more job opportunities for female workers than for male these days. So probably, there will be even more 'tambays' in the Philippines.

Some people are quick to judge men of being just lazy but look at the present social structure that they are living in right now. I will bet my new pants that if you count and categorize workers today, a lot of companies will have more female office workers than males, and majority of the men are either drivers, maintenance people, messengers or security guards.

It's ironic though that MOST of the top management positions in many companies are still mostly given to male executives. And why is that? 

Not more than 28 years old

This could be the new standard age limit for most non-technical and semi-technical job opportunities which qualifies majority of the able workers here in the Philippines.

However, what about those who are 29 years and older? What opportunities do they have if after their 28th birthday and they aren't still successful of establishing a career or getting a stable job?

Majority of those in the bracket of 30 something are already settled down and with kids. How are they to support their families if there are no job opportunities available for them?

With at least 1 year experience

Now this is truly ridiculous, well if you're in the bracket of below 28 years old, most probably you'll still be looking for work experiences but majority of the ads I see requires job seekers to have at least a year's work experience.

A friend of mine commented saying:

"Langya' kaya ka nga nag-aaply ng trabaho para magkaroon ng experience tapos hahanapan ka ng experience."

What does this mean - well, if you've just graduated, this job is not for you and maybe majority of the jobs being advertised are not for you. What a bummer, finish four years of college and you still need an experience to get a job, but how are you gonna get an experience if no one will hire you in the first place.

What a dumb society we live in.

The Philippines has one of the most unfair employment requirements in the world. In other places it is illegal to indicate age or gender as a requirement for work, not unless it is DEEMED necessary.

My OFW friends once told me, that in the countries where they've work - and they have worked in many different places already - most establishments don't have any age or gender requirement. As long as you are fit and able and passed all the interviews you'll most likely to get the job.

The stupidest thing is that here in the Philippines, agencies who handle recruitment of workers for the same establishments abroad still adds the age and gender requirements.

Apparently, if you wanted to get that job and you didn't pass the age and gender requirement, you'll have to go to that country and apply personally because the agencies here are making it impossible for a lot of people to get in.

It's hard to get ahead in this life when there are a lot of systems of injustices and unfair practices prevailing in our society. Life is already hard as it is but other people tend to make it even harder for others.