OVER 400,000 job vacancies in the construction industry could soon provide alternative employment to the thousands of workers displaced by the business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is now in talks with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to tap Covid-affected workers for the construction of big-ticket government
infrastructure projects under its “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said they are also coordinating with leaders of the construction industry for hiring of displaced workers.
“We hope to generate not less than 400,000 work opportunities [in the construction industry],” Bello said during the second Pre-State of the Nation Address (Sona) forum organized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Wednesday.
The labor chief explained the vacancies will be generated from the more manual labor-intensive construction operations.
“They will see to it they will maximize the availability of work by manualizing work rather than mechanizing it. So instead of buying a backhoe for example they hire additional workers instead,” Bello said.
Another employment generator during the Covid-19 crisis is the business-process outsourcing Industry (BPO), which will be offering 6,000 job vacancies, Bello said.
Other interventions
Bello issued the statement when asked about the possible government intervention of the government for the Covid-affected workers.
Based on its latest available data, DOLE registered over 121,000 displaced workers nationwide since the onset of the Covid-19 this year.
It also earlier noted it tallied around 400,000 Covid-affected overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Aside from providing these workers with alternative employment opportunity, Bello said there are also programs to provide them livelihood and loans.
Labor undersecretary officer-in-charge Benjo M. Benavidez said they will be assisting them so they will get their legal entitlements like severance pay as well as unemployment insurance, if they are qualified for it.
Benavidez said they hoope the number displaced workers will be minimized in the coming weeks as the government gradually relaxes its quarantine restrictions to allow more businesses to resume their operations.
Image credits: Nlex Corp.