How much do students in the Philippines expect to earn?

Students in the Philippines expect to earn an annual salary of 495,966 PHP (~US$9,000), finds a report.

University students in the Philippines expect an average annual salary of 495,966 PHP, which is just 1% higher compared to last year. In terms of disciplines, the annual salary expectation from engineering students upon graduation is the highest, at 568,202 PHP, while business students expect a yearly salary of 483,520 PHP and IT students expect 517,355 PHP.

However, there is a remarkable salary gap between men and women in the Southeast Asian country where on average women expect to earn 13% less than their male counterparts. Universum's Philippines' Most Attractive Employers report showed women expect to earn an annual salary 468,575 PHP (+/-US$8,572) whereas men surveyed in the study indicated an expected earning of 538,555 PHP (+/- US$9,852).

Conducted annually, Universum's report surveyed over 9,000 students from over 50 universities across 130 areas of study to pinpoint how talents perceive employers in the Philippines. Over and above salary expectations, the study highlighted both top employers and careers for young adults who will soon be entering the job market. 

Overall, education was the top ranked industry for students, with 24% of respondents indicating it as their preferred choice. It was also the number one industry choice for both men (25%) and women (23%) in the Philippines. Arts, entertainment and recreation (21%), and advertising (21%) tied for second and third spot in the overall rankings, followed by tourism and hospitality (19%), and banking (18%).

Women in the study followed the overall trend, with arts, entertainment and recreation (22%), and advertising (22%) tied for second and third once again. It was the Philippines' male students who bucked the trend indicating computer software and technology (21%) and video games (21%) in their top three.

When it came to workplace preferences, professional training and development, respect of its people, and a friendly work environment were the top three priorities when looking at employers for soon-to-be jobseekers at Philippine universities. The same three priorities were top of mind in 2021; however, 2020 had professional training and development, high future earnings, and a friendly work environment in the top three spots.

The report also listed Philippines' most attractive employers for 2022 across different faculties. Technology giant Google featured prominently across multiple industries and areas of study as did a couple of other prominent companies including Philippine Airlines, San Miguel Corporation, and Microsoft who featured across multiple lists.

Business/Commerce 2022

Philippine Airlines reclaimed its top spot in 2022 after briefly losing it to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2021 who traded places and fell to second. Google took third place after going down a rank in 2021 to fourth. San Miguel Corporation who was third last year dropped a position in the rankings followed by BDO Unibank who also dropped a spot.

Ayala Corporation (6), Cebu Pacific (7), Jollibee Foods Corporation (8), Land Bank of the Philippines (9), and, Shopee (10) made up the rest of the top 10 most attractive employers for students in the Philippines in 2022.

Engineering

When it came to engineering, Google remained as top choice for students three years in a row. Microsoft reclaimed its second spot after dropping to third in 2021 while Philippines Airlines went from fourth in 2021 to third this year. San Miguel Corporation dropped down the pecking order after being ranked second last year to fourth in 2022. Samsung rounded out the top five making it into the top five for the first time compared with 2021 and 2022. 

Ayala Land who was ranked fourth and fifth in 2020 and 2021 respectively dropped to sixth this year. Ayala Corporation ranked seventh while Megaworld Corporation (8), Cebu Pacific (9), and Energy Development Corporation (10) all ranked in the top 10 for students.

Humanities/Liberal Arts/Education

The Department of Education (DepEd) ranked as the top preference for the second year in a row. Technology behemoth Google who held the top position for humanities students in 2020 and dropped to third in 2021 made a comeback to occupy the second spot in 2022 of preferred workplaces. ABS-CBN Corporation came third after occupying the second spot in 2021, followed by Philippine Airlines making the top five in the last three years in fourth spot, while GMA Network occupied fifth for the third consecutive year.

The United Nations, after ranking fourth in 2020 and 2021, fell out of the top five to rank sixth on the list. Other prominent companies made up the top 10 including Teach for the Philippines (7), Civil Service Commission (8), Shopee, (9), and Microsoft (10).

IT

Google and Microsoft respectively occupied the top two spots for the third year in a row. They were followed by Accenture in third which climbed one spot in the rankings to take third in 2022 and Samsung occupying fourth which dropped a place. Intel landed the fifth spot for the second time after initially being in fourth in 2020.

Amazon (6), IBM (7), Oracle (8), Ubisoft (9), and Shopee (10) made up the rest of the top 10 for students looking to go into IT.

Lead image / Shutterstock
All other images / Universum