ILS - DOLE

Labor market realities are posing a formidable challenge to policy-making. Work is being reshaped by development needs, the influx of technology, intensified competition, and a change in expectations on the role of the state vis-à-vis market forces. These changes are calling for labor policy remedies that are fast, responsive, and which pursue market efficiency while ensuring equity.

In response to the global financial crisis, the Department of Labor and Employment issued DA 02-09 in 29 January 2009 providing for the guidelines on the adoption of flexible work arrangement (FWA) as a coping mechanism in mitigating the impact on employment. DA 02-09 listed six FWAs, namely: compressed workweek, reduction of workdays, rotation of workers, forced leave, broken time schedule, and flexi-holidays. FWAs are defined as alternative arrangements or schedules other than the traditional or standard work hours, workdays, and workweek.

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) were created under DOLE Department Order No. 07, Series of 2001 (D.O. 07-01) as region-based providers of services to displaced workers. In brief, this paper looks into how DOLE has fared in terms of responding to worker displacement through QRTs and gives recommendations based on past experiences culled from an earlier study of the Institute for Labor Studies. This paper particularly proposes the reengineering of QRTs to improve services for workers affected by economic shocks.

The susceptibility of the Philippine economy to international financial turmoil gravely affects the welfare of its labor force since economic crises usually cause involuntary unemployment to workers. The absence of unemployment insurance in the Philippines entails lesser social protection to the Filipino worker amidst the hardships resulting from economic instabilities.

The Philippines is arguably the human resource capital of the world. The Philippine workforce is so vast that it has become a key backbone of the global labor market. At present, Filipino skills are in-demand in 193 destination countries, making the Philippines the top source of migrant workers, after only such labor powerhouses as India and China. The Philippines is also a premier player in the global outsourcing industry, ranking seventh among top 50 preferred outsourcing destinations worldwide, according to the 2009 Global Services Location Index of the global consulting firm A.T.

The Philippine interest in services trade agreements can be understood in various visible gains. The country stands to gain from freer movement of people because of the Filipino human resource competitiveness. To maximize gains, a strategic Mode 4 negotiating stance must be adopted. But what constitutes a strategy that works in the context of services trade?