Unemployment Nears “Danger Zone”

Two out of many populous areas in the Philippines are now nearing the “danger zone” in terms of unemployment.

According to a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, Metro Manila and the Visayas have now a 45.5% unemployed adult labor force, this concludes that there are around 27.3 million jobless Filipinos.

Unemployment rate in the Visayas skyrocketed to 46.6% in July, an alarming rise from 15.7% in December 2019.

Meanwhile in Metro Manila, unemployment rate rose to 43.5% from 15%.

The root cause of the unemployment rate is still being blamed to the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses from various industries are forced to shutdown due to the effects of the pandemic in the country, as well as quarantine protocols from the government. When a business establishment closes, employees are also forced to leave their jobs. Aside from those businesses that are shutting down, the “freeze hiring” policy is also a factor that contributed to unemployment.

The survey also showed that 21% of adult Filipinos lost their job because of the pandemic or during the time of their interview, the other 21% lost their job before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were also forced to shut down since they cannot sustain to pay their employees their salaries. (MLC)