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Thursday, March 28, 2024

99% of businesses provided support to employees in 2020

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Nearly all businesses extended support to employees even as lockdowns reduced sales, closed operations and prevented some staff from working in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey conducted by businesses groups shows.

The Management Association of the Philippines, Institute of Corporate Directors and Makati Business Club said Monday while most participants of the survey saw revenues fell, everyone focused on minimizing the retrenchment of employees.

“The survey results show that Philippine business, in this pandemic, is a caring, nurturing and compassionate sector in our society,” said Rex Drilon, chairman of MAP’s shared prosperity subcommittee and chairman of ICD.

The groups said majority maintained and even added workers, underscoring the private sector’s role in helping Filipinos provide for themselves and take care of their families.

The survey was conducted from April 6 to May 16 by organizations who signed the MAP- and ICD-led covenant in November last year. It gathered 200 respondents from 34 organizations.

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MBC coordinated the survey while the Philippine Survey and Research Center processed the data.

The survey showed that about 99 percent of 200 executives in the survey said their companies provided some form of support for their regular employees, 71 percent of contractual employees and 65 percent of agency employees.

“This reflects the true character of the good Filipino: caring, nurturing and compassionate,” Drilon said.

The survey also showed that businesses continued pay for non-reporting regular employees (45 percent), provided special financial assistance, advances, loans for regular employees (43 percent) and gave pay to non-reporting contractual employees (31 percent). They also offered special financial assistance, advances, loans for contractual employees (27 percent), and continued pay for non-reporting agency employees (30 percent) and special financial assistance, advances, loans for agency employees (25 percent).

“The Philippine private sector always plays an outsize role in helping government respond to crises: this is already automatic,” said Francis Lim, president of MAP when ICD and MAP spearheaded the covenant.

“This partnership was biggest during the biggest crisis in our lifetimes and continues through this year,” he said.

Among other survey results in other areas, businesses supported clients and customers (51 percent) led by advanced payments, waived fees/obligations, material and other support, support for suppliers and contractors (34 percent).

“The Philippine business community’s collective response during the pandemic truly embodied our bayanihan spirit,” said Sharon Dayoan, founding member of Filipina CEO Circle and chairman of KPMG RG Manabat & Co.

“Appropriate policies and support programs are being implemented to safeguard not only our employees’ physical wellbeing but their mental and emotional health as well,” she said. 

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