Bridging the Gap: Aligning Higher Education Priorities with the Shifting Job Landscape in the Philippines

This study looks at how the present skills need, the dynamic labor market shifts in the Philippines, and the academic programs promoted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) connect. The study uses document analysis, guided by Cleary et al.'s (2017) Skills Alignment approach, to link high-demand skills and key economic sectors with CHED's prioritized programs. Using the most recent Labor Market Information reports and the CHED Memorandum Order No. 10, series of 2021, the results show that engineering, IT education, and business degrees significantly aligned with the digital economy, in-demand employment, and rising industries. Nonetheless, there are gaps where specific jobs tangentially align with the initiatives that CHED prioritizes. This paper offers suggestions on how to better align academic programs with the changing needs of the labor market.