The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said companies cannot afford a wage increase for their workers even as the economy continues to reopen.
Sergio Ortiz-Luis, ECOP president, said any wage increase is untimely.
“Ninety percent of the companies are micro in size and half them have closed shop. Those which have remained open cannot even meet their payrolls. There are very few SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that can maybe afford a salary hike,” Ortiz-Luis said in a text message.
ECOP is more concerned over the conditions of small companies that had to seek government support for the 13th pay of their employees in 2021.
“You cannot expect these companies to give out pay hike at this time,” Ortiz-Luis said at the Laging Handa public briefing.
Ortiz-Luis said large and medium enterprises are better off, with some of them raking in profits, and can give wage increases if they can.
When asked about the work setup of companies once the country or some regions are downgraded to Alert Level 1, Ortiz-Luis said transportation should be addressed to give workers access to safer mobility.
Ortiz-Luis also said cases of new coronavirus disease 2019 outbreaks in workplaces are isolated since most companies follow the minimum public health protocols specified by the government.
He did not directly address if work-from-home or hybrid setup will continue but said: “Transportation is a problem, some workers want to go back to their workplaces but are having a hard time in their commute.”
Some companies, he said, continue to provide shuttle services but only a handful can afford to do so.
Ortiz-Luis expressed optimism of a full economic recovery especially if the country is put under Alert Level 1 as soon as possible,.
“Hundreds of thousands of workers will be able to go back to work especially in some non-essential businesses which have remained closed or are operating at minimum capacity,” Ortiz-Luis said.
This would a big boost to the goal of creating a million jobs under the National Employment Recovery Strategy by the second quarter, Ortiz-Luis said.
