The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), through its spokesman Alex Aguilar, issued a call to corporate executives to share the burden of the current economic slowdown.

During a discussion on the state of the labor industry on ANC’s Talkback with Tina Monzon-Palma last Tuesday, Aguilar claimed that, “we are only hearing of cuts on workers, we also want to hear about cuts on leaders’ benefits.”

In the same program, Makati Business Club (MBC) Executive Director Alberto Lim explained that the business sector is employing various innovative ways to help employees cope with the global meltdown such as adopting compressed work hours, flexible work arrangements, and job sharing. These measures allow employees to keep their jobs though for a lower take-home pay.

Lim also suggested that the issue of job cuts be put in a more accurate perspective, saying that while there will be industries that will be directly hit by the crisis, particularly the services and exports sector, others stand to gain like tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO). The BPO sector is expected to have a 20-30% growth this year.

Meanwhile, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is doing its part to protect the interests of the labor sector.

Baldoz said Labor Secretary Marianito Roque recently issued a memorandum circular requiring businesses to declare, ahead of time, job cuts that will take place in their companies together with the benefits that will be provided to the displaced employees.

Baldoz said that the DOLE is also finding ways to help those who have already been retrenched find alternative sources of income.

She enumerated trainings in micro enterprises that are being provided through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and other partner institutions to help the estimated 33, 000 local workers that have been laid off.

She also disclosed that for capital needs, the government has a facility that can be accessed for loans without collateral.

In a related development, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said that there are already about 5,000 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have come home.

“But this is relatively a small number considering that the country is still deploying an average of about one million OFWs a year,” Dimzon said.

JobsDB.com Human Resources Manager Lirio Sevilla, on the other hand, related that there are job openings in the market available for OFWs and retrenched employees, particularly in the IT industry and in BPOs, granting that they qualify or get training for it. 

Reacting to the fact that not too many have accessed the available government support mechanisms, Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and daughter of the late former Senator and Labor Secretary Blas Ople, challenged the government to “inspire more confidence in these programs and publicize them so there will be a higher take up rate.”

TUCP’s Aguilar said that they are also doing their part to help those in their ranks. Aguilar said that TUCP’s Workers’ College is providing training and education to their members so they can get better jobs.

He likewise urged the government to continue to pump prime the economy through infrastructure projects so jobs can be created.

MBC’s Lim added that government also invest “in long term productivity trainings” so “there will be long-term benefits.”