Senator Joel Villanueva has asked for the expansion of training incentives under the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law to cushion the impact of automation in employment and upskill workers.
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The chairman of the Senate labor committee made the proposal as the Senate continued on Wednesday the plenary discussion on the CREATE bill, which seeks to lower corporate income tax (CIT) and amend the country's tax incentives system.
In his interpellation, Villanueva underscored the inadequate job-related trainings for Filipinos. He cited a 2017 study by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which shows that only three out of 10 workers in the country receive job-related training.
"This pales in comparison to the fact that seven out of 10 workers are at risk of losing their jobs to automation...Worst, the conduct of training is even more insufficient in sectors that are under threat due to automation," he raised.
For this reason, Villanueva said upskilling and retooling of workers should be one of the key considerations under the CREATE bill.
"Higher level skills are required to thrive in automated work environments. Developing a future-ready Filipino workforce requires upskilling or retooling of workers," he said.
Senator Pia Cayetano, sponsor of the CREATE bill, agreed with Villanueva and cited a World Economic Forum report saying half of the jobs in the country will be affected by automation, although saying this does not necessarily equate to job loss.
But the "most vulnerable" workers, she said, would come from the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. Financial and insurance activities, transportation, storage, accommodation and food service will also be affected.
"Most likely 90 percent of them will be affected," she responded.
She added that "nine out of 10 jobs will require digital skills."
"In other words, the effect of automation is that workers need to upskill. By upskilling, by putting to good use TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), we will be able to address this issue," Cayetano said.
Villanueva noted, however, that the incentives under CREATE might not be enough to increase the ratio of sufficiently trained workers.
"Only a few enterprises may be qualified for the packages of incentives under CREATE, but practically all would greatly benefit from training incentives if they are given the option to have it," he said.
He said he will propose expanding the availability of enhanced deductions on training across industries and ensure smooth processing of businesses’ training-related expenses.
"There are jobs or tasks at risk of automation that are present in almost all industries. By making training less costly, we encourage an enterprise to expose its workers to the other processes involved in the business and to retool or upskill them for the skills needed. We encourage the enterprise to give our workers a chance," Villanueva said.
Cayetano supported the proposal, saying "this option is very enticing because they will really be able to make a lot of deductions."
She said that a huge number of firms is expected to avail of the benefit. According to the Department of Finance, 54 percent of companies are interested in availing enhanced deductions.