Employers have called on government to reform antiquated regulations and rethink existing investment incentives towards an investment-led economic growth not just to protect workers but also to provide safety nets to job creators, particularly the micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), amid fast changing work environment and jobs transformation.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) Chairman Edgardo G. Lacson emphasized in a speech at the opening of the two-day 43rd National Conference of Employers on the theme “Reimaging the Future of Employment: From Policies to Actions” that the evolving workplace setting requires pro-active reforms.
“We need to reform antiquated regulations and craft relevant policies and action items to help promote and sustain employment in the new world of work,” said Lacson.
Lacson has also encouraged the government to join with the Employers Confederation of the Philippines in their discussions on the need for stronger social protection for workers, especially for those who have been displaced or undergoing job transition.
But, he likewise emphasized that it is equally imperative that similar safety nets be extended to job creators, the business owners, mainly MSMEs, suffering from the serial lockdowns, economic contraction and shock from natural and man-made calamities.
Foremost, Lacson has called on government the need to revisit many policies to rethink existing investment incentives in the transformation of traditional jobs through mentoring in digital skills, data analytics, and information technology.
“Human capital investment is a cost-effective strategy that will support inclusiveness and yield long term socio-economic dividends,” he said.
Labor policy reforms, in particular, are critical in the transition to the new unfamiliar order with the new employment compact such as work from home and remote or flexible time arrangement.
“Business must adapt to compete for talent with the noticeable shift in employees’ preference for work flexibility, mobility, and greater autonomy given the inefficient transport infrastructure in the country,” he said.
To address unemployment and inequality, Lacson said the government must promote an investment-led economic growth that will enhance, strengthen and expand the various platform pillars like digital infrastructure, transport, communication, and energy, among others.
Lacson reiterated his criticisms on the long and hard lockdowns imposed by the government during the pandemic.
He said the Covid-19 had exposed the country’s many vulnerabilities beyond the health issues. “It was confusion worse confounded as authorities experimentally applied a military solution of lockdown which nearly crippled our economy to solve this pharmaceutical problem,” he said.
As if Covid was not enough, Lacson said this was followed by the war in Ukraine that burdened the country even more as supply chain was disrupted and inflationary pressure was inflicted on all economies. “This is the ugly result of globalization where all countries are highly connected and interdependent,” he said.
As a result, there has been an increasing polarization on many fronts, leading to economic displacements.
Related to this, Lacson noted of growing anxiety on the impact of technological change on jobs and the constant shifts in the structure of industries. The nature of work is rapidly altering from the dynamic advances in digital technology, smart machines, and artificial intelligence.
As a result, Lacson said new jobs are created while other traditional routine-based or repetitive jobs are declining or disappearing. Even non-routine cognitive tasks are not spared given the developments of new algorithms for big data with capabilities for pattern recognition.
“All told, the world of work is turned upside down,” he said adding the new work is reshaping the traditional concept of work where the new jobs will continue displacing the old, unabated.
Interestingly, however, the same technological advances also strengthen and support employment of a different type such as the growth of the gig economy which is reshaping the traditional concept of work
“All these and more characterize the environment in which we live and work today. This is the new reality where new jobs will continue displacing the old, unabated,” he said.