THE number of employer-reported permanently displaced workers last year continued to rise despite the country’s high economic growth in the period, according to latest data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
In its 2022 Job Displacement Report (JDR), DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) registered 412,753 displaced workers from January to December of 2022.
This was higher compared to the 386,819 displacement figure in 2021.
Most or 369,465 workers who lost their jobs last year, were retrenched by 9,233 establishments.
The other 43,288 workers displaced in 2022 lost their jobs to the permanent closure of 1,714 firms.
Non-economic reasons, particularly resignation and project completion, were the most cited reason for the labor displacements.
By sector, construction tallied the most number of displacements at 117,750 and was followed by other service activities with 65,056, and administrative and support service activities with 56,937.
Manufacturing came in fourth place with 56,372. It, however, had the highest increase year-on-year (53.6 percent or +19,673).
This, even after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the country’s economy grew by 7.6 percent last year, exceeding the 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent target range of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
The further easing of pandemic restrictions and resumption of normal business operations for more firms last year led to fewer incidents of flexible work arrangements (FWA) and Temporary Closure (TC) incidents.
“Year-on-year comparison shows that all types of FWAs reported a decrease in the number of affected workers with the largest drop from reduction of workdays [-55.4 percent or -264,069], followed by others [-20.4 percent or 93,431] and rotation workers [-73.2 percent or -45,722],” the latest JDR report said.
TC cases also dropped to 148,496 last year from 406,065 in 2023.
The JDR is based on the displacement report regularly submitted by companies to DOLE.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes