DOLE: 70,000 workers have lost jobs after 2,000 companies fold

Published June 10, 2020, 2:12 PM

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said nearly 70,000 workers lost their jobs this year after some 2,000 companies folded up and retrenched workers mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest Job Displacement Monitoring Report of the DOLE revealed that a total of 69,022 workers were displaced nationwide from 2,068 establishments from January 2020 to present as reported by their regional offices.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the same thing during Wednesday’s Laging Handa press briefing.

“Let’s clarify the 7.3 million (in the Philippine Statistics Authority Labor Force Survey). That is not an actual figure. The actual number of unemployed is about 69,000,” he said.

Based on the DOLE report, 91 percent of the establishments reduced workforce (1,875), while 9 percent reported permanent closure (193).

The 193 firms that reported permanent closure displaced a total of 5,119 workers while the 1,875 companies that retrenched workers affected 63,903 employees.

According to DOLE, the month of June tallied the highest number of reporting establishments with 688 displacing 14,894 workers. This was followed by the month of February with 371 companies affecting 30,712 workers.

The National Capital Region (NCR) registered the most number of affected workers with 36,036; followed by CALABARZON with 14,206; Central Luzon (5,113); Cordillera Administrative Region (5,023); Ilocos Region (1,945); Central Visayas (1,929); Northern Mindanao (1,172); Eastern Visayas (874); Davao Region (745); Western Visayas (495); CARAGA (400); Cagayan Valley (345); Bicol Region (300); Soccsksargen (246); MIMAROPA (188); and Zamboanga Peninsula (5).

In terms of major industry group, most displaced workers were under administrative and support service (25,634), and the manufacturing sector (8,400).

The Federation of Free Workers, meantime, said numbers don’t lie.

“It was the PSA that came up with the numbers. So academically speaking, it is the PSA who should clarify the numbers if it sees the need to. Government
should report on the numbers as they really are. Numbers don’t lie,” FFW vice president Julius Cainglet said in a statement.

“The reason we generate data is we want to be guided in the policy decisions government takes. Government should respond based on what the numbers tell us,” he added.

Cainglet said: “The DOLE should not interpret the numbers differently just to suit its policy biases or just to make it look good.”

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/06/10/dole-70000-workers-have-lost-jobs-after-2000-companies-fold/