Task Force on Employment Recovery From COVID-19 Formed

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to sweep across the country and rendered many jobless in 2020, a new Inter-Agency Task Force on the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) was formed to devise a solution to bring back jobs in different industries and to further enhance the skills of the Philippine workforce.

NERS will be headed by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The new task force also aims to further boost economic activities which was slowly opened during the third quarter of 2020, restore business confidence at different industries, and the protection of workers in the workplace, among others.

“Vital wide-ranging and integrated policy measures are needed. These should focus on: stimulating the economy and jobs; supporting enterprises, employment and incomes; and protecting workers in the workplace, including occupational safety and health,” DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said during the virtual signing of the NERS Task Force Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) Friday.

The trade chair also added that objectives for task force includes the enhancement of policies to align with strategic national objectives.

“The objective of this employment strategy is to enhance the effectiveness of each of the policies and programs, and to more efficiently achieve the strategic national objectives,” Lopez said.

The NERS task force was created as the unemployment rate of the Philippines hit a staggering 17.7 percent during the apex of the quarantine period during the second quarter of 2020, which was one of many concerning impacts the COVID-19 pandemic have on the country.

As the government implemented strategies on reopening the economy, the unemployment rate was able to recover to 10 percent in July 2020, and to 8.7 percent in October 2020.

The unemployment rate of the Philippines was 5 percent before the pandemic.

The arts, entertainment, recreation, and tourism industries were severely affected by unemployment, as jobs in these industries dropped by 38.2 percent. Accommodation and food services also dropped by 33.2 percent, though hotels were able to recover slightly as some were used as quarantine facilities for returning overseas workers.

Lopez also added that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will play an integral role in bringing back jobs to the country, as MSMEs accounts for 99 percent of jobs in the country.

DTI currently has programs to further help MSMEs get back up on their feet, such as the COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program, wherein MSMEs with at least one year of operation can avail the zero-interest loan though Small Business Corp., the government’s business financing arm. (GFB)