Government and private sector will sign a covenant pledging the creation of a million jobs in six months, according to Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP).
Ortiz-Luis said the pledge will be presented to President Duterte at the end of the 42nd National Conference of Employers (NCE) on June 30.
George Barcelon, this year’s NCE chair, said signatories are representatives from the Departments of Labor and Employment, Transportation, Trade and Industry, Tourism and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for government and representatives from ECOP, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Hotel and Restaurants Association of the Philippines, Semiconductor and Electronics Institute of the Philippines Inc., Information Technology and Business Processing Associationof the Philippines, Philippine Constructors Association among others for the private sector.
Ortiz-Luis said the agreement hopes to recover lost employment in construction, tourism and semiconductor industries as the economy reopens.
But he stressed the rollout of the vaccines to the economic frontliners or the A4 category is key in revitalizing businesses and in creating or restoring jobs.
Barcelon noted achieving herd immunity would help normalize business activities as this will increase mobility.
He, however, acknowledged as threat to recovery the new strains of the virus and the rising cases in areas outside Metro Manila such as Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Calabarzon.
Barcelon said sees reform, rebound and recover as a key strategy to cope with the pandemic.
Reform, he said, entails the flexibility of private sector and government in allowing work-from-home arrangements for employees and in implementing shorter quarantine period for fully-vaccinated travellers.
This way, more jobs will be regained and tourism will be revived.
Barcelon said the signing of the covenant hopes to drum up the fact the country is slowly regaining the jobs lost from the pandemic.
The number of unemployed now stands at about 3.4 million from 7.3 million at the height of the pandemic.
But this is a million short of the 2.4 million unemployed recorded before COVID-19 in January 2020.
“We continue to collaborate with the business community in exploring creative ways and adapting new coping mechanisms in order to survive, thrive, and sustain business operations in these difficult times, and thereby contribute to the Philippines’ economic recovery,” ECOP said in a statement.
The 42nd NCE starts today, June 21.
