The Hiring Challenge Filipino MSMEs Face and How Better Teams Can Drive Business Growth

For many Filipino entrepreneurs, growing a business is not simply about finding more customers or increasing sales.

Behind every expanding company is a team of people who keep the business moving, serve customers, solve problems, and turn plans into results.

But for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), finding those people can be one of the toughest parts of running a business.

Limited hiring budgets, a shortage of qualified applicants, and the growing need for digital skills are making recruitment increasingly challenging for small businesses. At the same time, many MSMEs are preparing to expand and need more people to support that growth.

A recent survey by Boston Consulting Group and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) found that about 46% of MSMEs are facing a talent crisis, while 72% plan to expand their workforce.

The numbers point to a familiar problem for entrepreneurs: businesses want to grow, but finding the right people to help them grow is not always easy.

This is where Jobstreet by SEEK is stepping in, bringing recruitment knowledge, digital hiring solutions, and practical business resources closer to Filipino MSMEs.

Why the Right Team Matters for Small Businesses

For a large company, hiring may involve dedicated human resources teams, recruitment specialists, and significant budgets.

For a small business owner, recruitment can look very different.

An entrepreneur may be running daily operations, talking to customers, managing finances, and handling suppliers while also trying to write a job advertisement and screen applicants.

A wrong hire can cost valuable time and resources. The right hire, however, can help a business operate more efficiently, serve customers better, and take on new opportunities.

Recognizing this reality, Jobstreet by SEEK has been expanding its efforts to help MSMEs approach hiring with greater confidence.

Under its “Building Better Teams. Growing Businesses.” initiative, the company has been working with local government units, business organizations, and MSME communities to bring recruitment guidance and business resources directly to entrepreneurs.

Rather than making hiring feel like another complicated task on an already long business checklist, these initiatives focus on giving small business owners practical tools they can use.

Bringing Hiring Support Closer to Filipino Entrepreneurs

One of the ways Jobstreet by SEEK is reaching MSMEs is through its BizTalk sessions in Pasig and Quezon City.

Held in partnership with the Pasig City Local Economic Development and Investment Office (LEDIO) and the Quezon City Small Business and Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office (SBCDPO), the sessions created opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn more about recruitment, digital tools, entrepreneurship, and government programs available to businesses.

For small business owners who may not have access to professional recruitment teams, even simple tools can make a meaningful difference.

In Pasig, participants were introduced to free Jobstreet Lite Job Ads and AI assisted job ad creation. These resources can help MSMEs create job postings more efficiently while making it easier to reach potential candidates.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City session explored how digital recruitment solutions, entrepreneurship insights, and collaboration among local businesses can help entrepreneurs respond to workforce challenges.

The goal is straightforward: give MSMEs access to resources that can make hiring more manageable as their businesses move forward.

Helping MSMEs Build More Than Just a Workforce

Recruitment is only one part of running a growing business.

Entrepreneurs also need to understand finances, labor regulations, digital transformation, business registration, banking, intellectual property, and workforce management.

That broader perspective was highlighted at Jobstreet Negosyo Forward: READY, SET, GROW, organized in partnership with PH Business Network.

The event featured a business clinic where participants could receive personalized, one on one guidance from business advisors and industry experts.

For entrepreneurs navigating the challenges of expansion, these conversations can provide practical direction on issues that go beyond hiring.

The initiative reflects an important reality for MSMEs: sustainable growth often requires businesses to strengthen several areas at the same time.

A company may have a great product, for example, but scaling that business becomes much harder without the right employees, financial systems, compliance practices, and digital capabilities in place.

Meeting Entrepreneurs Where Business Happens

Jobstreet by SEEK has also continued its engagement with the MSME sector through industry gatherings, including Quezon City MSME Week 2026 at Gateway Mall 2 in Araneta City and the Go Negosyo MSME Summit at SM Mall of Asia.

These events provide another avenue for entrepreneurs to learn about recruitment solutions, hiring tools, and employer resources.

More importantly, they create opportunities for business owners to connect with organizations, experts, and fellow entrepreneurs who understand the realities of running a small business in the Philippines.

For many MSMEs, that access to information and connections can be just as valuable as having another hiring tool.

Better Hiring Can Become a Business Advantage

Hiring is sometimes treated as an administrative task that businesses need to complete when they need more workers.

For growing MSMEs, however, recruitment can be much more important than that.

The people a business hires can influence everything from customer service and productivity to innovation and day to day operations.

Having the right employees can also give entrepreneurs more room to focus on strategy instead of trying to handle every responsibility themselves.

This is why strengthening recruitment support for MSMEs can have an impact beyond simply filling vacant positions. It can help businesses build teams capable of supporting their next stage of growth.

“Growing a business starts with having the right people behind it,” said Dannah Majarocon, Managing Director of Jobstreet by SEEK in the Philippines. “Through our partnerships and engagements with MSMEs, we hope to make hiring more accessible and empower more Filipino businesses to grow with confidence, supported by the right talent.”

The Next Chapter for Filipino MSMEs

Filipino MSMEs continue to play an important role in creating jobs and driving economic activity across the country. As more entrepreneurs look for ways to expand, the need for accessible and practical hiring support will likely become even more important.

For business owners, building a stronger company may begin with something as fundamental as finding the right person for the right role.

With recruitment expertise, digital hiring tools, and connections to a wider business ecosystem, initiatives like those of Jobstreet by SEEK are helping make that process less overwhelming for Filipino entrepreneurs.

Because behind every growing business is a team.

And for many MSMEs, building that team could be the key to turning their next big business goal into reality.

For more information about Jobstreet by SEEK and its support for Filipino MSMEs, visit jobstreet.com.ph.