CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— While Bukidnon remains a high-capacity employment engine for Northern Mindanao, deep structural gaps in job quality have left nearly one-third of its workforce chasing more hours or secondary livelihoods.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) 2025 Annual Labor Force Survey, Bukidnon’s working-age population (aged 15 and over) expanded to 1.119 million. However, the province's Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) dipped from 67.9% to 66.4%, though it remains comfortably above the regional benchmark of 64.8%.
High Employment vs. Short Working Hours
On paper, Bukidnon’s capacity to generate raw jobs is robust. The province posted a strong 96.4% employment rate for 2025, outperforming the Northern Mindanao regional average of 96.3%. This ties Bukidnon with Lanao del Norte and Camiguin as the region's top employment performers, keeping local unemployment at a low 3.6% (below the regional 3.7% average).
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The critical challenge, however, lies in job quality. Bukidnon's underemployment rate climbed from 27.9% in 2024 to a staggering 31.3% in 2025.
The Regional Disparity: Bukidnon's 31.3% underemployment rate is the highest in Northern Mindanao—nearly double the regional average of 17.1%, and in stark contrast to neighboring Cagayan de Oro City's low 5.5%. In practical terms, nearly one in three employed workers in Bukidnon is under-hours and actively seeking more work to make ends meet.
The Agricultural Factor
While the survey does not isolate a single cause for Bukidnon, regional PSA metrics pinpoint structural vulnerabilities unique to agricultural corridors:
Sector Volatility: Regionally, agriculture accounts for 49.5% of all underemployed individuals.
The sector is highly unstable, losing 97,000 jobs across Northern Mindanao in the Agriculture and Forestry sub-sectors in 2025 alone.
Variable Work Cycles: For part-time workers logging fewer than 40 hours a week, the primary driver of underemployment is unpredictable seasonal work, affecting 68.6% of under-hours laborers.
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Climate & Market Risks: Shorter working hours are also directly tied to severe weather or natural disasters (3.2%), poor local business conditions (2.9%), and agricultural off-seasons (1.0%).
Conversely, personal limitations play a minor role, with schooling (6.6%), family obligations (6.1%), and medical reasons (3.9%) accounting for only a small fraction of the under-hours workforce.
