THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Thursday said Filipinos working even just an hour a day are considered employed in the government’s employment surveys, after senators questioned why job statistics don’t reflect the realities on the ground.
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on DoLE’s proposed budget next year, Labor Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres said this classification was based on international standards of employment from the International Labor Organization.
“This definition of employment is very loose, and the statistics do not align with reality,” Senator Lorna Regina “Loren” B. Legarda said in response to the Labor official.
“We want to know the true state of employment in the country.”
Commenting on the employment standard, Kilusang Mayo Uno Secretary General Jerome M. Adonis said it shows that there really is a lack of jobs for Filipinos
“No matter how the Marcos administration tries to tumble and show that it is doing something (for the workforce), they cannot deny that wages are not enough, jobs are not enough, and poverty is still here,” he said in a statement in Filipino.
The unemployment rate in June fell to 3.1% from 4.1% a month earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported last month.
However, job quality worsened as the underemployment — those who want longer hours or an additional job — went up to 12.1% in June from 9.9% in May. This is higher than 12% in June 2023. — John Victor D. Ordoñez