Retooling of workers pushed

With 7 out of 10 Filipino workers at risk of losing their jobs to automation, Senator Joel Villanueva said the upskilling and retooling of workers should be one of the key considerations under the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE bill.

Underscoring the inadequacy of job-related training in the country for workers, he cited data from the 2017 Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which shows that only 3 out of 10 workers in the country receive job-related training.

Senator Christopher Go said the CREATE bill would achieve faster and equitable regional development and provide economic opportunities in the provinces by encouraging businesses to invest in the countryside.

He said the grant of tax incentives should target the provinces so that investors could invest outside Metro Manila and more economic opportunities would be made available for the Filipinos living in or moving to the countryside.

Meanwhile, Villanueva said the incentives under CREATE may be inadequate to increase the ratio of workers trained.

“Only a few enterprises may be qualified for the packages of incentives under CREATE, but practically all would greatly benefit from training incentives if they are given the option to have it,” he said.

To encourage employers to provide training for their workers, Villanueva said, he intended to propose expanding the availability of enhanced deductions on training across industries, and ensure smooth processing of businesses’ training-related expenses.

“There are jobs or tasks at risk of automation that are present in almost all industries. By making training less costly, we encourage an enterprise to expose its workers to the other processes involved in the business and to retool or upskill them for the skills needed.

“We encourage the enterprise to give our workers a chance. This way, in fact, we even help the enterprises survive and adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

“Doing so also prepares the economy to better brace itself for the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This sends a policy signal to every Filipino worker and employer, that it is the policy of the state to support continuous investments in human resource and development.”