Accounting Jobs

Half of 33M workforce now self-employed

MANILA, Philippines—Vendors, sari-sari (variety) store owners, drivers of public utility vehicles and other self-employed workers now represent half of the country’s 33-million workforce, according to a labor official.

Teresita Peralta, chief of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), said on Wednesday, workers in the informal sector reached 16.5 million so far in 2009, due to the effect of the worldwide economic downturn.

Citing a recent survey of BLES, Peralta said most of the workers in the informal sector were displaced employees from companies, which shut down because of financial troubles.

According to the National Statistical Office, there were 10.5 million self-employed Filipinos in 2008.

The figure included 1.3 million workers employed in family-run businesses.

“We now see an increase in the number of workers in the informal sector and our initial findings is that we have at least 50 percent of the total (labor force) are now self-employed,” Peralta said in a press briefing.

Peralta said the increase in the number of self-employed workers only showed the importance of the informal sector in keeping the economy afloat.

“We have a large economy and it is during this crisis that our informal sector comes to the fore,” she said.

The informal sector, she added, also helped in keeping the country’s unemployment rate to a manageable level.

Peralta said the unemployment rate during the first quarter of 2009 was recorded at around 7.7 percent, and they were expecting the final rate of unemployment for the month of April to be at the same level.

To help laid off workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) will hold a three-day job fair at the Luneta Grandstand in Manila from June 12-14.

Raymond Agravante, DOLE regional director in Metro Manila, said over 105,000 jobs in government-owned agencies and private companies would be available for prospective applicants.

Source: Marlon Ramos

Posted in Job News | No Comments »

10,000 hired in Labor Day job fair

MANILA, Philippines—The nationwide government-sponsored job fair on May 1 resulted in the hiring on the spot of about 10,000 jobseekers, the Department of Labor and Employment said Wednesday.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the fair, dubbed “Jobapolooza ’09” also referred 16,442 job seekers for employment in participating firms that offered highly in-demand jobs.

Such in-demand jobs include those in business processing outsourcing, information technology services, wholesale and retail, construction, food and beverage, hotels and restaurants, and manufacturing.

Source: Jerome Aning

Posted in Job News | No Comments »

Palace approves new investment perks plan

President Arroyo has approved the 2009 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which contains a unique “contingency list” that will grant incentives to firms that save or generate jobs amid the global economic slowdown.

“The 2009 IPP opens opportunities for the country to attract more quality investments into industries and services that would maintain and improve the country’s competitiveness and ensure employment for the Filipino people,” the President said in Memorandum Order 299, which she signed on Thursday last week.

Under the Preferred Activities of the 2009 IPP are two lists—the Contingency and Regular lists.

The Contingency List will cover existing projects and/or activities affected by the current global economic crisis that will either retain investments and maintain their number of employees; retain investments and increase their number of employees; increase investments and maintain their number of employees; or increase investments and increase current number of employees.

This list also covers new projects of micro, small and medium enterprises as defined under the revised Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Enterprises registered under this list may be entitled to Income Tax Holiday (ITH), the memorandum said.

However, projects not qualified under the Contingency List include banks and financial institutions; retailing business as defined under Republic Act 8762; all services except those qualified under the Regular List; small-scale mining as defined under Presidential Decree 1899 and R.A. 7076; activities that are restricted/regulated by law or ordinances for reasons of security, defense and risk to health and morals; activities of non-Philippine nationals engaged in small- and medium-sized domestic market enterprises that are not qualified under the Foreign Investment Act as amended by R.A. 8170; non-agricultural basic consumer goods; personal care products; all existing power and infrastructure projects with sovereign guarantee or granted ITH; and other activities as may be determined by the Board of Investments.

The Regular List retains the industries included in last year’s plan.

Source: Ben Arnold O. de Vera

Posted in Finance, News Blogs | 1 Comment »