25,000 more workers laid off, 100,000 others got pay cuts in January

MANILA, Philippines — At least 25,226 more workers were laid off in January while 108,089 more workers found themselves without pay or with drastic pay cuts as businesses suffered further losses since the new coronavirus pandemic emerged last year, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) reported on Sunday.

In its latest job displacement report, the Dole said 4,220 micro, small, medium and large businesses closed down, retrenched some of their workers, or reduced the working days of employees. A total of 133,315 workers were displaced.

The report is culled from notices of shutdown and retrenchment submitted by employers to the labor department’s regional offices.

Last year, at least 428,701 workers lost their jobs while 4,577,027 workers were caught in a “no work, no pay” situation.

Economic downturn

In the Dole’s job displacement report for January, 1,421 establishments let go of 25,226 workers because of permanent closure or reduced workforce due to the econo­mic downturn.

A total of 142 businesses permanently shut down, leaving 2,346 employees out of work, while 1,279 retrenched part of their workforce.

More than half, or 15,324 newly displaced workers, were in Metro Manila; 3,671 in Central Visayas; 1,957 in Calabarzon; and 1,456 in Central Luzon, the Dole said.

Of those who were laid off last month, 6,151, or 24 percent, were in the construction sector; 4,919, or 20 percent, in the services sector; 2,663, or 10 percent, in administrative and support services; and 2,622, or 10 percent, in the manufacturing sector.

The report also showed that in January, at least 108,089 more workers in 2,799 establishments remained employed. They could not work anyway since the business was temporarily closed, or they suffered huge pay cuts due to reduced working hours, it added.

The Dole said 1,182 establishments that reported “temporary closure” effectively left 30,733 workers out of work even though they were not officially laid off.

Most of the businesses that closed in January are micro enterprises with one to nine workers. A total of 604 of them said they were closing temporarily while 54 totally shut down.

Those that retrenched or reduced working hours were mostly small enterprises with 10 to 99 workers. “Flexible work arrangements” were implemented in 672 small enterprises, and retrenchment in 482 others.

According to the Dole’s year-end job displacement report for 2020, mass layoffs worsened in the last quarter since almost half of the total 428,701 job losses were reported from October to December.

A total 26,060 micro, small, medium and large businesses closed permanently or retrenched some of their workers last year.

The year-end report also showed that since the start of the lockdown in March until December last year, at least 4,577,027 workers in 161,251 establishments suffered
from prolonged temporary closure of the business or from reduced pay.