‘UNEMPLOYMENT CURVE FLATTENED IN 1-2 YEARS’

THE flattening of the unemployment curve can only be achieved in the next one to two years when the economy will start to rebound from the havoc caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). “We cannot expect immediate rebound in six months. My estimate is one to two years,” Labor Secretary Silvestre 3rd said in a webinar on Wednesday.

Bello expressed confidence that during that period, at least 2 to 3 million new jobs would be created with the help of digital technology, the business processing outsource (BPO) sector, agribusiness and construction, particularly the Build, Build, Build program of the government.

The health crisis, he said, rendered economic activities in the country as well as the rest of the world “immobile,” resulting in a record unemployment rate of 17.7 percent or about 7.3 million unemployed Filipinos.

The Labor chief pointed out the number continues to grow and could reach as high as 10 million for this year, with those hard hit coming mainly from the administrative and support services and the manufacturing sector.

“Mitigating measures have to be adopted in order to arrest the further decline, and resuscitate the economy. Certainly flattening the unemployment curve is a challenge we all must contain even as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on,” Bello said.

To achieve it, he added, it is imperative for enterprises to reinvent the way business is being done, to include the “upskilling and retooling” of workers to enable them to fit with the emerging digital transformation of businesses.

“Eventually, enterprises would employ workers who are technologically skilled,” Bello said. “Upskilling and retooling are therefore very necessary to achieve digital transformation and enhance the competitiveness of our workers,” he added.

Bello pointed out that through digital transformation, industries would be able to effectively adopt remote work arrangements to protect workers from the disease and preserve the viability of business operations.

“How can we achieve this? I believe that social dialogue is very important in this most challenging time. Consultation and tripartite collaboration are essential, not only for us to understand the needs of various sectors, but also to build trust and commitment toward an effective and sustainable response,” he said.

“We can start by involving our employees in decisions relating to their rights and future in the work business. Their understanding of the needs as well as realities of companies would lead to an effective response to mitigate the effect of the crisis,” the Labor secretary added.

On a positive note, Bello said the pandemic gave Filipinos a chance to do better and opportunities for broad upskilling and retooling that would develop the workers’ digital know-how and adaptability capabilities. “Companies can’t be resilient

if employees are not in, and sustainability of our workforce therefore is the first step to ensure the recovery of our businesses and finally our economy,” he added.

In the same webinar, Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez said the Labor department was making sure retrenched workers would get the benefits due them, including their separation pay, if warranted, and for them to apply under the unemployment insurance benefit if they were qualified.

Aside from the financial assistance, according to Benavidez, the Labor department was also helping in the transition of affected workers to other jobs by profiling their skills.

“We identified sectors that would immediately rebound after the post-lockdown scenario. These are sectors in health as well as in the construction industry. We also identified BPO to be one of the drivers as we rebound after the pandemic,” he said.

“So we are coming up with a profile of all these displaced workers. We will transition them to their new job,” Benavidez added.

Based on job displacement reports received so far by the Labor department, a total of 79,647 workers were retrenched or terminated from 2,611 business establishments nationwide as a result of the crisis.