SENATE Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Thursday urged companies to hire technical vocational graduates who have been trained to match the skills demand of industries.

“Our technical vocational education is among the best in the world. We have a pool of talent who can get every job done,” he said as the country celebrated National Tech-Voc Day on August 25.

“Job-ready and adept in their field, tech-voc graduates hold a vast potential in contributing to our way out of the pandemic,” he added.

Villanueva said that for every person hired, a family will have the chance to rise from poverty, especially now that finding employment is a challenge with many companies still to regain their business footing.

“Dreams put on hold when the pandemic struck will now become a possibility,” he said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority showed the jobless rate in June 2022 reached 6 percent or 2.99 million Filipinos.

Villanueva said the country has a good number of people in the workforce, including senior citizens and retirees.

“When it comes to work, ability over age should matter,” Villanueva said. “We should exert all efforts to hone or teach new skills to our elderly to make them employable anew.”