As community restrictions eased, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-Davao region said the number of workers who lost jobs in 2021 decreased to 11,871 coming from 566 companies whose operations were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is lower by 42 percent compared with 20,592 workers from the 1,206 companies affected by the pandemic in 2020.

NEDA-Davao director Maria Lourdes Lim said during a virtual press conference streamed over Philippine Information Agency-Davao’s Facebook page that 450 companies downsized operations leading to retrenchments, 85 companies closed permanently, and 31 companies ceased operations temporarily.

“The expected level of employment achieved in 2021 as well as lesser number of retrenched workers and business closures are signs that the region is achieving its pre-pandemic employment numbers,” she said.

She added that the majority of the companies affected were from agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector (AFFS), particularly the banana plantations in the region, as well as in the service sector, including membership in organizations, repair of computers, and personal and household goods.

The top reason for the termination of employment, according to her, was the financial losses that these establishments continued to experience in 2021.

Lim said, however, that the region saw improvement in employment figures last year. She reported that the region was able to sustain high employment rates between the first and third quarters of 2021 within the range of 94.6 percent to 95 percent “due to reopening and sustained business operations as the spread of COVID-19 was contained.”

She said the third quarter employment rate of 2021 was almost at par with the pre-pandemic rate in the first quarter of 2020 at 95.4 percent.

In 2020, the region posted an employment rate of 95.4 percent in the first quarter, decreased significantly to 82.1 percent in the second quarter, and slightly improved to 92 percent in the third quarter. “The said containment was attributed to the massive vaccination drive by both the private and public sectors at the end of 2021 that yielded at a 66.6 percent coverage for fully vaccinated individuals in the Davao region. Particularly for Davao City, we recorded a 90.2 percent vaccination coverage as recorded by DOH-Davao,” she said.

The easing of restrictions on people’s mobility in 2021 generated more quality jobs as reflected in the significant decline of the region’s underemployment rates to nine percent in the second quarter. In the third quarter of 2021, however, the underemployment rate rose to 17.8 percent.

Despite the challenges confronting the region, she said the agency remained optimistic that it would continue to expand employment opportunities, thanks to the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, Reintegrate, Accelerate Vaccination program (PDITR-V) being implemented by the Regional Task Force against COVID-19.

“This strategy essentially includes measures such as the aggressive promotion and enforcement of minimum public health standards and imposition of granular lockdowns instead of quarantining whole areas,” explained Lim.