Lockdowns amid pandemic adversely affected job sector
THE lockdowns imposed to protect the health of Filipinos resulted in a wave of job losses nationwide that saw 76 workers per 1,000 employees losing their jobs at the height of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the Labor Turnover Survey (LTS) results for the first and second quarter of 2020, PSA added that 14 workers per 1,000 employees also lost their jobs in the first quarter of last year.
“The first and second quarters of 2020 showed evident drops in employment growth in establishments located in the National Capital Region [NCR] as the Covid-19 pandemic started to progress,” PSA said.
PSA explained that labor turnover is an indicator of employment growth. It is measured by the difference in accession and separation rates.
During the first quarter, labor turnover was at -1.4 percent, and it continued to decline during the second quarter to -7.6 percent.
This is because for every 1,000 people employed, 107 workers in the first quarter, and 120 workers in the second quarter either quit their jobs or were laid off by their employers.
Data showed, meanwhile, that accession rates registered for the two quarters implied that for every 1,000 employed, 93 workers in the first quarter, and 44 workers in the second quarter were hired either for business expansion or as replacement for separated workers.
In terms of sectors, data showed that agriculture, forestry, and fishing recorded a sudden fall in labor turnover from 9.4 percent in the first quarter to -0.8 percent during the second quarter.
A similar trend was observed in the industry sector for the same periods wherein employment growth was at 0.9 percent and -5.1 percent, respectively.
The services sector depicted a decline in labor turnover in the first quarter of the year at -2 percent and -8.1 percent by the end of the second quarter, the lowest among the three sectors.
The contraction in labor turnover in the services sector during the first quarter was mainly due to the reduction of employees in the accommodation and food service activities followed by other service activities, including personal services for wellness, except sports activities; laundry services; domestic services; and other personal activities.
In the second quarter, the decline was due to the reduction of work force in the services sector, which was mostly attributable to administrative support and service activities, followed by the wholesale and retail trade, and other service activities.
The LTS is one of the regular surveys of the PSA and is an offshoot of the Employment, Hours and Earnings Survey (EHES) conducted from 1987 to 2002 by the former Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES).
The survey aims to provide quarterly data on labor turnover and existing job vacancies as indicators of labor market activity and general business situation of the country.
This provides the government and the private sector a complete picture of labor demand and job turnover as inputs to decisionmaking and policy formulation.