Only around 27 percent of establishments with 20 or more workers implemented a work-from-home (WFH) arrangement during the pandemic period of 2021 to 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment, a total of 9,822 out of 36,342 surveyed establishments said they adapted a WFH set-up from July 2021 to June 2022.
The education sector, except public education, topped the list of industries, with 63 percent of establishments adopting a WFH set-up.
It is followed by information and communication, with 58.5 percent of its establishments having a WFH arrangement, and electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply, with 49.7 percent.
During the period, establishments with a WFH set-up encountered challenges, mostly intermittent internet connection (60.1 percent), difficulties monitoring employee performance (40.1 percent), and difficulty communicating with employees (29.5 percent).
After implementing a WFH setup, more than half (63.5 percent) of the establishments surveyed said they would no longer continue the implementation of the WFH arrangement permanently, according to the PSA survey.
Meanwhile, some establishments were willing to continue the WFH arrangement on various terms.
About 19.2 percent had plans to continue implementing WFH but on a smaller scale or a minimal number of units in the establishment.
On the other hand, 16.1 percent of establishments stated that they would continue the setup as currently implemented, and 1.2 percent were willing to continue implementing the WFH setup on a bigger scale or in a majority of the operations.
The statistics agency also noted that more establishments implemented a scheme to boost the productivity of their workers, citing a 0.9 percent increase in firms with Productivity Improvement Programs (PIP) in 2021.
These establishments mostly implemented productivity programs such as the 7s of good housekeeping, continuous process improvement, and client satisfaction measurement.
The management position was the lead program developer with 85.8 percent of the total number of establishments with PIPs. Supervisors or line leaders and rank-and-file or production workers followed with 21.0 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively.
Unions had the least share in the groups of individuals who initiated the PIPs, with 0.5 percent.