AS QUARANTINE EASES, WORKER LAYOFFS START
THE expected mass permanent labor retrenchment for 2020 may start this month amid the protracted business disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has started getting reports from private companies which are now in the process of reducing their workforce.
Labor Assistant Secretary officer in charge Dominique R. Tutay said they already started getting indicators from some firms either through notices, letters and verbal advice of their intent.
She said among the companies is Okada casino resort hotel, which earlier announced its plans to retrench 1,000 of its employees to maintain its viability during the Covid-19 crisis.
“The Okada [management] already sent a letter to our regional office, which is now in touch with them already to thresh out the details,” said Tutay.
Recent surge
DESPITE the business disruption caused by the Taal Volcano eruption in the first quarter, the DOLE said displacement during the period remained relatively stable.
Citing their preliminary report for the first quarter of the year, Tutay said 35,548 employees from 6,121 establishments lost their jobs. This was roughly the same as the 35,458 employees retrenched by 1,421 companies in the same period in 2019.
Even after President Duterte placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on March 17, 2020, the DOLE did not record any mass permanent retrenchment at that time.
Instead, thousands of companies resorted to temporary closure and flexible work arrangements to cope with the effects of Covid-19 for a while, supported by government cash aid, which were given directly to their workers.
2.8M Covid-affected
FROM 10,756 on March 16, 2020, the number of Covid-affected workers soared to 2.8 million last week.
The period between April 6 and 24 was among those that saw the biggest increase in the number of Covid-affected workers, more than tripling from 25,124 to 81,835. However, this gradually slowed down last month after the government relaxed its quarantine restrictions to allow more workers to return to work.
“In the past our daily average was between 45,000 and 50,000 [workers]. In the past week our daily average [of reported] workers was at 20,000 daily average,” said Tutay.
New normal
THE prolonged restrictions on workers allowed to physically report to their job sites had caused many companies to consider reducing their manpower, like in the case of Okada.
This led the DOLE to project the unemployment rate this year to rise to 8 to 10 percent, which will leave 3 million to 5 million jobless workers.
Most of them are expected to come from the following sectors, which are reliant on their onsite operations: accommodation and food-service activities; wholesale and retail (non-essential services); transportation; arts, entertainment and recreation; and education.
Tutay said they hope the pending P1.5-trillion Covid-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Act of 2020 will help minimize the retrenchment.