More firms in Metro Manila were hiring but also laboring harder to fill fewer job slots during the second quarter of the year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) reported Wednesday.

Data from the DoLE-Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) showed that almost half (308) or 45.2 percent of the 682 enterprises surveyed in the region were demanding for qualified job seekers to fill in the more than 3,500 vacancies.

A BLES Labor Turnover Survey (LTS) released this month showed that the number of enterprise owners hiring increased from the first quarter percentage of 40.8 percent.

The LTS, however, indicated that most job seekers do not fit the qualifications required by most Metro firms.

Moreover, the number of vacancies during the second quarter was fewer compared to the 9,027 jobs available during the first quarter of the year.

“This is probably because the previous openings had already been filled up. Most of the openings were in healthcare and customer service association with 2,000 available positions,’’ BLES said.

The Labor Turnover Survey had earlier indicated improvements in employment rate with the region’s accession rate or additions to employment hitting 9.7 percent, a few percent higher from the 9.3 percent rate of the first quarter.