Some 6.5 million Filipino jobs were lost during the height of the lockdown and quarantine period of the pandemic, the World Bank reported yesterday.
But while some jobs are coming back, challenges remain, according to the report.
Yoonyoung Cho, senior economist, Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, World Bank Philippines, professional jobs have returned, but struggles remain.
Wholesale and retail and the service industries have rebounded, Cho said.
“By the second quarter of 2022, the share of wage employment decreased while the share of unpaid family workers and self-employment increased,” Cho said.
She added: “Poverty increased in 2021, reversing downward trends before the pandemic.”
She highlighted major challenges, especially youth employment which is higher for this group than others.
Cho said there is greater job loss and slower recovery for the youth, adding this segment is experiencing multiple crisis, from disrupted learning to unemployment and poverty.
“These can have long-lasting scarring effects,” Cho said.
Presenting the World Bank’s Philippine Jobs Report 2023, Cho discussed labor and employment policies. The report includes a comprehensive review of the labor market before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (early 2000 to 2019) and an analysis of the pandemic’s impact on various labor market indicators (2020 to Q2 2022).
The report also covers policy options that are aligned with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-28 agenda for “more jobs, quality jobs, and green jobs.”
The report’s key takeaways: the COVID pandemic impacted on the labor market which is now recovering due to the strong rebound of the economy. “However, challenges remain as indicators of job quality and poverty show,” Cho said.
Labor migration will continue to be major driver of development. Prior to pandemic, jobs thrived, the number of vacancies greater than the work force.
The annual labor productivity measured as value added per worker, posted an annual growth rate of 5 percent to 7 percent, driven by the service sector. Labor was moving from non-wage to wage employment.
“Overseas workers and BPO (business process outsourcing) workers became symbols of a vibrant Philippine labor market,” Cho said. “Poverty significantly declined.”
All that changed with the COVID pandemic which brought setbacks, including job loss. Unemployment and underemployment increased.
On the upside, Cho said “the labor market is now returning to pre-pandemic and even better levels.”
E-money and online e-commerce are everywhere. Positive developments include the steady increase in female labor force participation.
Cho also discussed labor regulations, job creation and international labor migration.
Over 2 million Filipinos migrated abroad since 2016, she said, pointing out that more women worked abroad than men. For example, 70 percent of land-based migrants are women.
Cho noted the lack of diversity for migrant workers, especially for women, most of them working in the Middle East as domestic workers.
Information technology employment continues to play a prominent role, with increasing demand even more so after the pandemic, Cho said.
While the Philippine has a significant share in the IT outsourcing industry, they are mostly found in less skilled jobs such as clerical and data input work unlike their counter parts in India and Pakistan who are more prominent in higher skills such as programming.
Still, Cho sees many opportunities. “It requires getting the fundamentals right, favorable and decent environments for workers, and using labor market policies to address specific challenges,” she said. “It is an opportune time to strengthen labor market policies.”
Interventions are needed in many levels, she said. These include skills training; placement assistance; wage subsidies for minimum wage workers, social insurance, unemployment benefits, minimum wage policies especially for a third of the labor force reporting below minimum wages, and labor protection legislation.
“These policies should consider green jobs and be grounded on solid data,” Cho said.
