According to the monitoring of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), from March 29 to April 11, up to 17,329 people lost their jobs due to retrenchment or permanent closure of the company.
Of this number, nearly 80 percent came from NCR Plus.
Those in service activities, construction, transportation and storage, administrative and support services, and accommodation and food support services were mainly affected.
But even if the modified ECQ has eased the quarantine category in NCR Plus, it is possible that the number of job losses will increase.
“Magtutuloy-tuloy po siguro ito kasi ‘yung mga other services, it falls under the non-essential. Tapos ‘yung sa dine in naman po allowed lang 50 percent pero outdoor po siya, eh karamihan naman po ng ating mga restaurants halimbawa ‘yung mga nasa loob ng mall hindi pa rin sila puwedeng mag-accept ng dine in,” said DOLE Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay.
So DOLE is promoting several workers assistance programs. The DOLE is requesting P52 billion for the 3-month wage subsidy and P30 billion for its emergency employment and cash assistance programs.
Today, DOLE is still accepting applications for P5,000 cash assistance in the tourism sector.
17K workers lost jobs in just two weeks: DOLE
Its coverage has also been expanded so that the beneficiaries include workers of travel and tour companies, hotels, airlines, the wellness industry such as spas, and even those in transportation.
It still has P1 billion in funding so about 200,000 more workers who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 can benefit.
Meanwhile, the government plans to hire 12,000 contact tracers through the Department of Labor and Employment’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emergency employment program for those in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus bubble.
The hiring will be done through the DOLE’s Employment Assistance to Disadvantaged or Displaced Workers (TUPAD pogram), which has been given P18 billion in funding in the 2021 Budget.
Contact tracers will work for 30 days or a month.
They work only four hours a day, and they receive minimum wage.
The contact tracer must also be a college graduate. But according to the DOLE, those who have reached the 2nd year of college are also attending.