DAVAO City serves as the primary hub for the region’s labor market, accounting for 42% of all jobseekers and nearly 40% of all job vacancies, the 2025 regional profile on Labor Market Updates (LMU) revealed.
The LMU regional profile is an annual publication of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that provides data on top industries, available job vacancies, and the most preferred occupation in the region.
In 2025, Davao Region (Regional Office XI), the labor market showed a decline in registration activity compared to the previous year, with decreases in the number of jobseekers (down by 17%) and job vacancies (down 16%).
Despite these declines, the region still recorded 180,348 job vacancies and 174,264 jobseekers, according to the PESO Employment Information System.
The number of employers is down by 8%, dropping from 1,151 in 2024 to 1,090 in 2025, which the LMU attributed to the high employment rate and low unemployment/ underemployment rate of the region, where fewer workers seek employment.
The March 2026 issue of the LMU also reported that the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector is the top industry in the region, which is followed by activities of private households and other community/social service activities.
Agriculture comes 4th, followed by Manufacturing (5th); Construction (6th); Financial Intermediation (7th); Hotels and Restaurants (8th); Education (9th); and Health and Social Work (10th).
For the high-demand jobs, the most vacant positions are for domestic helpers, call center agents, and laborers. However, the top three preferred occupations of jobseekers are laborer, service crew, and office clerk.
The LMU also reported that the workforce is predominantly young, with youth (119,177 individuals) making up 68% of registered jobseekers. It can be noted that senior citizens still seek employment, logging 2,149, while PWDs logged 75.
In terms of gender distribution, 53% are female and 47%, and a significant majority (74%) of jobseekers were unemployed at the time of their registration.
High School graduates represent the largest segment of the jobseekers at 31% (53,040 individuals), followed closely by college students (39,250) and college graduates (37,192).
While the labor market is concentrated in Davao City, at the provincial level, Davao del Norte leads in job opportunities, hosting 36.83% of the region’s total vacancies (66,430). In comparison, Davao del Sur logged 33,807 jobseekers or 19.40% of the regional total.
