Google Philippines said more students are pursuing careers in content creation, driven by the country’s growing digital economy.
“More and more students and vloggers will choose to be creators. And again, that is because of the changes in consumer behavior we’re seeing,” Google Philippines Country Manager Prep B. Palacios told BusinessWorld in an interview.
“This is good for the young population because of the more career options and more options for them to actually earn money,” she added.
The Google executive noted that the rise in the country’s digital economy influenced the increasing number of young creators on the video-streaming platform YouTube.
“What we’re seeing is that there is actually a shift in rules, and this is because of how the digital economy is actually increasing,” she said. “There are now more career options for students and vloggers in the Philippines, and it’s good because they can actually use their passion to create a livelihood.”
According to the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA), the digital economy encompasses transactions in digital-enabling infrastructure, e-commerce, digital media and content, and government digital services.
In 2024, the local statistics agency said the digital economy contributed 8.5% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In terms of gross value added, digital grew 7.6% from P2.09 trillion in 2023.
The local statistics agency added that the digital sector, which accounted for 23.1% of employment nationwide, employed 11.30 million workers last year; up by 4.8% from 10.78 million in 2023.
E-commerce accounted for the highest share of employment at 77.9% followed by digital-enabling infrastructure at 21.4% or 2.4 million, digital content and media at 0.7% or 79,390, and government digital services at 0.1% or 5,820.
By 2025, the digital economy is projected to grow by 15% to 20% as trends for e-commerce, online media, and financial technology remain strong, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
LOCALLY-RELEVANT CONTENTAlong with the rise of young creators, Ms. Palacios noted that more creators are producing content focused on rural Visayas and Mindanao.
“What we’re seeing is that the creators are creating locally relevant content for the Filipinos in the rural areas,” she said. “They also make sure that they use their own dialects, and it actually reflects the culture in these areas.”
The boost in local content is attributed to the accessibility of mobile phones and the internet in rural areas.
“It’s actually being supported because we’re seeing that, you know, mobile phones are becoming cheaper. They’re also able to access the internet through PISO Wi-Fi,” Ms. Palacios said.
A 2025 survey by Kantar revealed that 88% of Filipinos in rural Visayas and Mindanao consume YouTube content daily, underscoring the platform’s extensive reach.
As YouTube’s reach and users grow, creating unique content becomes a challenge for creators.
“The common challenges right now would be, of course, how to produce content,” she said. “They need to be able to find their uniqueness or the value that they can give when it comes to providing content.”
To help the creators, generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are readily available on the platform, said Ms. Palacios.
“We have gen AI tools such as Veo and Dream Screen, where they can actually create high-quality videos, which are powered by AI,” she said.
“For example, from their long-form content, they can actually use it to create more shorts,” she added, highlighting the YouTube AI studio.
In the same study by Kantar, 90% of Filipino viewers trust YouTube creators and content, higher than the 77% average across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. — Almira Louise S. Martinez