What happened
The Philippine Institute for Development Studies published the press release on 30 September 2026.
It reports remarks by Alexis Antoniades, described there as a former professor at Georgetown University in Qatar. He is the speaker in the release. He is not described as a PIDS researcher.
He spoke at a roundtable organized by the Institute for Labor Studies of the Department of Labor and Employment, with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
The Institute for Labor Studies published its own note on 1 October 2026. That note says the roundtable was on 15 September 2026 in Quezon City, with the institute, PIDS, and the Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines.
Antoniades said, “We need to have data where people work, what type of tasks they do, not just on their employment status.”
Asked about data workers, he pointed to image and video annotators and content moderators, and said much of the work that prepares training data is done by people in the Global South.
He also pointed to data centers, and to workers such as electricians and plumbers. He asked how to identify the people who do this work, and how to recognize and reward them.
He did not give a national number of annotators or moderators. The release says those workers are hard to see in ordinary employment statistics.
Institute for Labor Studies Executive Director Jeanette T. Damo said, “Research serves its highest purpose when it informs policy discussions, supports decision-making, and contributes to improving the lives of Filipino workers and their families.”
PIDS President Philip Arnold P. Tuaño said the questions about work, skills, and employment are also questions about the kind of society Filipinos want to build. The institute’s note carries a Filipino line from him on institutions and workers.
Why it matters in the Philippines
This section is Pinoy AI Works analysis. Annotation, moderation, and the trades around data centers can sit inside ordinary job titles. A count of who is employed can miss the task.
The useful point is visibility. Better task data could show who supports AI systems and what their conditions are.
This is an expert call reported by PIDS, and an event note from the Institute for Labor Studies. It is not a new Department of Labor and Employment program, a hiring drive, or a training enrollment.
It is also separate from an earlier PIDS release that urged a broader workforce strategy. This article stays with the call to map tasks.
What to do or watch next
- There is no signup in these two pages.
- If you annotate data, moderate content, or keep a data center running, the claim is that employment status alone may hide the task.
- Watch whether later labor surveys ask what people do, not only whether they have a job.
- Watch whether the institute or PIDS publishes a method. That is a watch point, not a commitment stated in these pages.
How this was checked
This section is Pinoy AI Works analysis. On 8 October 2026 the PIDS release and the Institute for Labor Studies note were both opened.
The PIDS page prints 30 September 2026 as the publication date. The institute’s page prints 1 October 2026, and it dates the roundtable to 15 September 2026.
The annotator, moderator, and data-center examples are in the PIDS release. The institute’s note confirms the event, the speaker, and the two agency voices. It does not repeat those job examples.
No headcount was added, because neither page states one.
Put this into practice
New to AI, or want to check a story like this yourself? Start with these two guides.
Sources & further reading
Source note. The linked sources support the news in this article. The explanations and suggested next steps are from Pinoy AI Works.
