More Labor Research Needed for 4IR

Amid changes in the world of work brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the labor department has underscored the importance of developing and implementing labor and employment policies and programs based on sound research.

This as the DOLE, through its research arm, the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), conducted the 8th DOLE Research Conference, an annual activity where DOLE agencies present their researches to policymakers, program managers, and tripartite partners to enable evidence-based policy and decision-making processes for the department.

With the theme, “Shaping the Discourse on the Future of Decent Work,” this year’s research conference in Manila aims to heighten awareness and to encourage meaningful social dialogue about the future of work and its implications.

Labor Undersecretary Ana Dione, in her message read by OIC-Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay, said that although the fourth industrial revolution “is a major challenge of our time, how we deal with it, how we adapt to it, and how we harness its positive potential, will shape the future of work.”

Highlighting the importance of evidence-based policies, she added that the department “can only craft effective and responsive policies and programs based on sound research, informed analysis, and quality social dialogue.”

Meanwhile, ILS Deputy Executive Director Patrick Patriwirawan said that with regard to the future of work, the DOLE has been aligning its initiative and policy framework on the principles of sustainable development and just transition.

Fourteen kinds of research, based on three sub-themes, were presented during the one-day conference.

Under the theme, mapping emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the world of work, the researches presented were about the situational analysis of the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector in the Philippines; skills need anticipation in the construction industry; and differentiation of pay scales across levels of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) qualifications in the construction industry.

With the theme, securing social protection for all amidst uncertainties in the world of work, the researches presented explored non-hazardous work for children in the agriculture sector; participatory assessment of DOLE interventions for displaced workers; building local communities for reintegration; lifestyle risk factors of Filipino seafarers; practices and policies of establishments on DOLE health-related department orders; and best practices in promoting occupational safety and health (OSH).

Lastly, under the theme, exploring institutional and workplace arrangements for a better and brighter future, the researches presented were about opportunities and challenges in platform work; assessment of time and motion study and facilities evaluation; harbor pilotage in the Philippines; multi-employer bargaining; and harnessing benefits and mitigating risks of trade on employment in the Philippines.