The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan emphasizes the significance of utilizing ICT as a vehicle to pole-vault the country into the new economy.  With ICT, the government hopes to bridge the digital divide between regions and communities in the country.  It is also seen as an effective tool in generating employment, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation.

While this is a welcome development, there may be possibilities that the expected outcomes might be reversed in the future, to the detriment of workers and the economy as a whole.  For instance, the introduction of ICT in the workplace may result in the displacement of some workers as experienced in some countries.  Moreover, instead of bridging the digital divide, this may deepen and widen such that the poor becomes poorer and the rich becomes richer.

Based on this viewpoint, the Institute conducted a study on the effects of ICT on employment in ICT-reliant sectors.  The study examines the employment implications of ICT by looking into the magnitude of “decent state” of employment opportunities that the sector generates.  It also recommends policies that could help maximize the benefits derived from the introduction of ICT in specific sectors.

The study focused on the following ICT user-sectors: garments, call centers, and business process outsourcing (BPO) establishments. In the garment sector, introduction of ICT did not have a high impact on employment levels given the relatively low level of utilization of technology.  The lack of investments in technology however affected productivity and competitiveness in the sector.  On this account, the study recommends, among others, a faster implementation of the Garment Export Industry Transformation Plan and Assistance Package, which seeks to enhance competitiveness in the industry and aims to improve the sector’s productivity through massive investments in technology and skills upgrading.