"De-skilling" of college graduates

**uls** · April 19th, 2008 09:51 AM

JPDM,

my impression is that you are an academic or a researcher... i simply mean you're probably not involved in real world, ground level affairs of business.

the stuff u posted are quite yes-we-can inspirational...

but in the real world, on ground level, when you're a businessman with limited capital... and you have only one chance to make a bet, either u make money or lose it all, u would be placing ur bet on something with higher chances of making u money.

I would rather import Pringles potato chips than manufacture my own brand of potato chips. Di nako magsusugal sa pakikipaglaban sa Jack n Jill or Oishi...

that's my point.

Di natin pwede sabihin na mahina ang loob ng mga importer. Naglabas parin sila ng pera. Nagsugal din sila. Di nga sila sigurado kung magiging mabenta ang inimport nila.

Yung mga mahina ang loob, sila ung nakatago lang sa bangko ang pera.

Either mahina ang loob, walang alam sa business, or tamad.

Mahirap kumita ng pera dito sa Pinas.

Academics and economists and researchers and people who just read newspapers and books and write and think dont have any idea how hard it is to make money here.

For every 1 business u see that's surviving and thriving, there are probably 9 that failed.

---------------------------

Try taking out a large sum of money out of ur savings.

In ur hand is your retirement, ur children's education, ur dreams...

Then think what business you're gonna place that money in...

I'm sure a factory won't be on top of the list.

-----------------------------

Meron mga businessmen mas "mahina ang loob" than importers and manufacturers.

They are ones who buy products from importers and local manufacturers.

Di nga nila kaya mag import or mag manufacture...

Sila ung mga may ari ng tindahan.

Mga dealer, retailer...

Bili lang sila ng produkto tapos ibebenta.

they dont have to deal with all the headaches of manufacturing.

they dont have to deal with importation hassles.

they dont have to worry about forex or raw material sourcing.

bili, mark-up, benta.

that's it.

**A121** · April 19th, 2008 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by jpdm

2 million Pinoys were added to the poverty statistics despite the 7.1% increase in GNP (NSCB, 2008). $ 8 Billion trade deficit (2007). Php 160 billion added to our country's debt stock every year. Php 80-100 billion government budget deficit.

Why because the country has become a service-oriented economy. Ano ang mapapala ng estado at gobyerno kung lahat ng pinoy salesman, marketers, call center agents at traders?

Im sorry whoever is that economist from the Gloria administration na magsuggest na mag-full service economy tayo is the most stupid economic idea/policy that I ever heard.

WE have to go to manufacturing no matter how hard it is. If other fellow pinoys does not want it. Let the FDIs do it.or the Chinoys and other enterprising Pinoys.

How can you enter manufacturing if there is very little R&D that's going on in the Philippines? Face it, we cannot compete if we do not have the technical know-how. Sayang lang ang investments on manufacturing kung malulugi lang. Better spend it on service oriented industries kasi dun sure ang kita.

I have to agree with uls. May nagtalk sa amin, na bago sya nagstart ng business nya, nagsabi muna sya sa magulang nya na sila muna ang bubuhay sa kanya for a year. Mukhang ok naman business nya ngayon. He owns Tronix imaging btw.

**badsekktor** · April 19th, 2008 01:20 PM

sad but true.... madaming gustong magnegosyo pero mahirap makipag-compete sa big players dahil sa sakit ng ulo....

anyway, nasa manufacturing biz naman ang pilipinas ah! manufacturing ng babies! :D

**uls** · April 19th, 2008 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by badsekktor

sad but true.... madaming gustong magnegosyo pero mahirap makipag-compete sa big players dahil sa sakit ng ulo....

anyway, nasa manufacturing biz naman ang pilipinas ah! manufacturing ng babies! :D

and coz the Philippines is so good at manufacturing babies, we have become a major exporter of people.

Gawa tayo babies, papalakihin, papaaralin ng nursing, tapos ilalagay sa eroplano papunta ibang bansa.

Reminds me of that clone army manufacturing planet sa Star Wars...

hehe

**jpdm** · April 19th, 2008 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by A121

We cannot compete if we do not have the technical know-how.

Better spend it on service oriented industries kasi dun sure ang kita.

May nagtalk sa amin, na bago sya nagstart ng business nya, nagsabi muna sya sa magulang nya na sila muna ang bubuhay sa kanya for a year. Mukhang ok naman business nya ngayon. He owns Tronix imaging btw.

Siguro sir, tama kayo ni uls at maniniwala ako sa inyo kung sa micro level yan. At Ilan lang kayong may frame of mind na ganyan. At the macro level, its plain and simple a kiss of death to any economy especially ours.

We are not Hongkong or Singapore.

The US is suffering right now because most of the manufacturing is done outside America. With no jobs and income domestically how can the Americans even pay for their rent or housing loan? or buy new houses?Di ba yan ang nag-trigger ng recession sa America ngayon?

Bush just signed a law giving tax discount to Americans, why because of sagging personal income. Puro na rin sila salesman tulad ng nangyayari Canada, so papaano?

China is now the second largest economy in the world (after the US, dislodging Japan and Germany) dahil sa transformation ng economy nila into service oriented economy?No, because naging manufacturing haven sila. Together with Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and even Vietnam. (Flying Geese theory, Japan is the head)

Saan tayo, tayo yung maya o uwak?Meaning, pampasira tayo, etsapuera, sticking like a sore and stinking thumb?

Anyway, Innovatronix is very successful. Thats the point. It works going into manufacturing or production. Go into this kind of business. And base on the number of people going to their shop i think they are doing well.

masyado ka naman walang bilib sa Pinoy. Anong walang R&D. Hirap kasi hindi pinapansin mga inventors/innovators dito sa atin.Ayaw din bigyan ng pansin ng walang kuwentang gobyerno natin.Kailangan ibenta sa ibang bansa patent nila.

Again, innovatronix, made alot of locally made electronic gadgets that were previously imported.

Kasi kung ang attitude talaga ay sayang lang kung malulugi e talagang walang mangyayari. Di maaring sigurista ka.

Angsinasabi ko lang go into manufacturing that doesnt need high technology..focus on the basic need. (basic needs approach)

Dont go into consumer electronics or computer peripherals because it needs alot of capital and the barrier to entry is so hard.

Feasibility studies and business plan must be done to see whats lacking in the country.

halimbawa, 99% of our milk, dairy requirements are imported. Why not try dairy farm and produce and process milk?

Almost all essential (frangrant oils) are imported, why not grow ylang-ylang and go into processing (into oil) .

Ok lang muna if you start from selling or marketing products (even importing) but you should eventually graduate from this go into manufacturing.

My apologies talaga, pero making our economy into a service economy will be the dumbest at the most stupid thing that this inutile and stupid government will allow.

Kahit yung pinakabobo na ekonomista at government planner will not allow a country with no strong manufacturing/industrial base.

As a matter of fact, kahit nag-ha-hallucinate na karamihang nasa gobyerno sa latest IPP (Investment Priorities Plan) focused more on giving incentives to FDIs andlocal investors that will go into pioneering industries especially in manufacturing.

Thats the only way to go. Go into manufacturing.

**jpdm** · April 19th, 2008 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by uls

JPDM,

my impression is that you are an academic or a researcher... i simply mean you're probably not involved in real world, ground level affairs of business.

the stuff u posted are quite yes-we-can inspirational...

but in the real world, on ground level, when you're a businessman with limited capital... and you have only one chance to make a bet, either u make money or lose it all, u would be placing ur bet on something with higher chances of making u money.

At the micro-level uli, it perfectly alright uls that you go into importing because thats your business plan. kaya lang dapat minority lang kayo.

Thats the reason why the government is damn desperate in attracting investors from abroad to go into manufacturing. Siguro, alam nila walang mapapala sa mga ibang Pinoy businessman na gusto lang mag-import kasi madali, instant money.

But for a country to have this kind of macro-socio-economic plan of making a service oriented economy is plain and simple stupidity in the highest order.

No single country in this planet in its right mind will allow its economy to become just a dumb service oriented economy.

Common, its not jus about inspirational talk or something. Im just pragmatic and realistic. Katulad din ang ungas na gobyerno ng PInas.

Vicious cycle ang massive importation. NO real income and employment generated. Sa Circular flow, lumalabas ang income sa domestic economy lalo nga kung massive.

Ngayon pa nga lang e, dahil sa massive importation sa atin, without the OFWs, mahina domestic consumption kasi mahina income ng tao sa PInas. Puro importers lang kumikita.

Again, yan rice crisis ang example. The solution of the governmet is to import. Until when/Where will they get the money to subsidized the imported rice? from taxes?Saan galing ang taxes sa withholding tax ng tao?may matitira pa bang suweldo?Kumuha sa corporate.meron pa ba?e puro warehouse at ***y na secretary lang ang kumikita bukod sa importer?e si importer lahat ng klase ng tax avoidance and evasion ay agawin?

saan kukuha ng tax para sa subsidy ng bigas na binibili ng mas?

Para hidi mag-alburuto ang gutom na masang umaasa sa NFA rice?Mag-import ang private investors?Sino bibili kung ang presyo ng imported rice ay pagbagasak sa Pinas (factored ang kita ni importer, forklift at warehouse workers at ***y secretary) ay 30 pesos. DI kaya ng 60% ng masang Pinoy and still growing......

Ayokong mag-food riot at French Revolution sa Pinas.

Im fully aware of whats happening to the SMEs. Pero ngayon lang yan sa panahon ni Gloria. IN 2010, I hope a new president will takeover and reverse the stupid economic policy of the government and help the local SMEs who are into manufacturing and production.

**CVT** · April 19th, 2008 11:25 PM

I will discuss direct foreign investment, or something related to it.

I am an employee of a multinational manufacturing company here in the Philippines.

The government is not serious in providing a conducive atmosphere for investment here in our country.

First and foremost is the bureaucratic way we entertain would-be investors. Yes, we provide perks and tax holidays,- but some level of corruption is there every step of the way.

Second, our cost of electricity is one of the highest in the region. In manufacturing, this is one of the most significant factors in the computation of the unit cost. The industry has been clamoring to Malacanang for more than a decade already to lower the cost of electricity for the country to be competitive. Sadly, the government is looking the other way....

Third, our (direct) labor cost is higher for example than China, Vietnam or Indonesia. Yes, we speak 'better' english and probably, we have 'more talent'. But these advantages are eroding exponentially.

Fourth is the perceived lack of political stability here and the inconsistent implementation of government policies related to investments.

Fifth,- infrastructure. Hiways and roads leading to the airport. Availability of buildings and structures in the economic zones. Cost of renting these properties. Telecommunications .... we are also behind in all of these.

The big question is that why can Singapore or Malaysia for example maintain their foreign investment in manufacturing? Why can't we. Their labor cost is definitely higher than ours. It's just one of the factors. Checkout the other factors above....

Other countries have 'graduated' from manufacturing because they have very good R&D. We don't.

Lastly, - corruption is not limited to our government. One of the biggest manufacturing facilities is folding up in a few months. They did it once, twice,..... We just never learned from history....

5808:bee:

**A121** · April 20th, 2008 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by jpdm

masyado ka naman walang bilib sa Pinoy. Anong walang R&D. Hirap kasi hindi pinapansin mga inventors/innovators dito sa atin.Ayaw din bigyan ng pansin ng walang kuwentang gobyerno natin.Kailangan ibenta sa ibang bansa patent nila.

Did you know that there are only 1300+ PhDs in the Philippines today? (sorry can't remember the exact number, lecture sa amin last time yan) That number is less than Thailand and Malaysia. Doesn't that reflect the state of R&D in the Philippines? (academics that is). Kulang na kulang pa tayo sa training, that's what I meant.

* CVT,

High-risk pala talaga ang Pinas. Parang lumalabas na mahirap umutang sa mga bangko para magtayo ng business dito? Am I correct?

**pup2** · April 20th, 2008 03:17 AM

Originally Posted by CVT

I will discuss direct foreign investment, or something related to it.

I am an employee of a multinational manufacturing company here in the Philippines.

The government is not serious in providing a conducive atmosphere for investment here in our country.

First and foremost is the bureaucratic way we entertain would-be investors. Yes, we provide perks and tax holidays,- but some level of corruption is there every step of the way.

Second, our cost of electricity is one of the highest in the region. In manufacturing, this is one of the most significant factors in the computation of the unit cost. The industry has been clamoring to Malacanang for more than a decade already to lower the cost of electricity for the country to be competitive. Sadly, the government is looking the other way....

Third, our (direct) labor cost is higher for example than China, Vietnam or Indonesia. Yes, we speak 'better' english and probably, we have 'more talent'. But these advantages are eroding exponentially.

Fourth is the perceived lack of political stability here and the inconsistent implementation of government policies related to investments.

Fifth,- infrastructure. Hiways and roads leading to the airport. Availability of buildings and structures in the economic zones. Cost of renting these properties. Telecommunications .... we are also behind in all of these.

The big question is that why can Singapore or Malaysia for example maintain their foreign investment in manufacturing? Why can't we. Their labor cost is definitely higher than ours. It's just one of the factors. Checkout the other factors above....

Other countries have 'graduated' from manufacturing because they have very good R&D. We don't.

Lastly, - corruption is not limited to our government. One of the biggest manufacturing facilities is folding up in a few months. They did it once, twice,..... We just never learned from history....

5808:bee:

I agree. Don't wanna go into much detail kasi it's long and complicated pero bottom line is that it's easier AND more rewarding to go into importation/trading/service than to actually MAKE something here.

Bro, tsismis naman dun sa big manufacturing facility na closing and why ... kahit PM lang.

**tidus1203** · April 20th, 2008 08:00 AM

Some people think our country is hopeless, unfortunately I am also falling in that camp already. IMPORTATION IS BAD for us overall since we send money abroad