To avoid the displacement of more workers, the Department of Labor and Employment has urged companies to consider adopting special or flexible work arrangements.
“We are talking to businessmen, managers, not to close shop…so that their workers wont lose their jobs,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said during the “Laging Handa” press briefing yesterday.
“We also recommended that for those who cannot afford it…to have 50 percent of their workers report for a week and then the other the next just so our workers won’t lose their jobs,” he added.
“The income of the workers may be less but, at least, they still maintain their employment status,” said Bello.
The DoLE had earlier said that the COVID-19 pandemic has displaced nearly 2.5 million workers.
The DoLE Bureau of Local Employment said as of May 8, 2,498,441 workers from 93,621 establishments were affected by the crisis.
“As of 08 May 2020, about 78 percent or 73,065 (with 1,668,082 workers) of which were temporarily closed,” DoLE Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said.
She said the remaining 22 percent or 20,556 establishments (with 830,359 employees) adopted flexible work arrangements.
The National Capital Region had the most number of affected workers with 894,905, followed by Central Luzon with 293,383 workers, and Davao region with 205,063 workers. (Leslie Aquino)
