FOREIGN businessmen in the Philippines are asking the government to include the training of “potential employees”—not just the actual personnel of the companies—as a way of addressing the country’s job-skills mismatch problem.

Henry Schumacher, executive vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), said by reimbursing the training expenses of companies, the government will be able to prod corporations to train more people than what they actually need.

“I will not train more people who will probably be hired by my competitors if I would not get incentives for that. So giving tax deductions for training potential employees is the way for us to move forward,” Schumacher said.

Right now, the government only grants double deductions for the training of actual employees.

In a paper submitted by the ECCP and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) to the government, the two business groups noted that there are now several companies, particularly in the electronics and IT-enabled service sectors, that are working with educational institutions and are funding on-the-job training programs for students for them to obtain the kind of skills required by industries immediately.

Given the funding limitations faced by many Philippine schools, the chambers said the participation of companies is an excellent way to supplement their limited funding.

“We propose that this collaboration between industry and academe be encouraged by including such expenditures as training expenses,” the groups said.

They said the deductions for the training of potential and actual employees should not be limited to a given timeframe but should be allowed as long as the training continues.

The government’s investment promotion agencies, they said, should prepare a list of industries that will be covered by this incentive.

Aside from the training of potential employees, foreign businessmen are also seeking the grant of tax deductions for research and development activities.

This tax perk, the two chambers said, should be given to enterprises at the duration of their registration with the government’s investment promotion agencies.

FOREIGN businessmen in the Philippines are asking the government to include the training of “potential employees”—not just the actual personnel of the companies—as a way of addressing the country’s job-skills mismatch problem.

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