An ILO report placed Philippine labor productivity at the low end of the Southeast Asian countries but higher than state-led economies, such as Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia
- From: Chim <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:27:39 -0800 (PST)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
EDITORIAL
High labor productivity equals human dignity
An International Labor Organization (ILO) report released last
September placed Philippine labor productivity--the output per person
employed--at the low end of the Southeast Asian countries.
The report, "Key Indicators of the Labor Market," said that in US
dollar terms labor productivity in the country stands at US$7,271 per
person employed, lower than neighboring market economies such as
Singapore, US$47,975; Malaysia, US$22,112; Thailand, US$13,915 and
Indonesia, US$9,022.
But the country's labor productivity is higher than state-led
economies, such as Vietnam, US$4,809; Myanmar, US$4,541 and Cambodia,
US$2,853.
It's still the United States that leads the world in labor
productivity.
Labor productivity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the ILO said,
"was stagnant and much slower than other regions" with an average
annual increase of only 1.6 percent between 1996 and 2006. "Workers
in
the region produced only a seventh of their developed economy
counterparts," the ILO said.
East Asia's workers, by comparison, produce twice as much as they did
10 years ago. Theirs is the world's highest productivity increase.
A 2006 survey of the Asian Development Bank found the Philippines to
be number 11 in labor productivity among 13 selected Asian countries.
We were just a few dollars higher than Cambodia and Vietnam.
The Philippines has a lot of catching up to do, and the stark figures
bear this out. But we must not assign the blame to others--the
statisticians, the IMF-World Bank for its structural adjustment
loans,
the government for being corrupt and insensitive to the workers or
the
workers themselves for being powerless or unwilling to improve
themselves more rigorously than other peoples of the region.
Low wages--which means underpayment of labor--has always been a
characteristic of underdevelopment. Worse than unemployment,
underpayment further is a sign of exploitation. No wonder Filipino
college graduates and professionals go abroad if they can to earn
higher wages.
Many Filipinos are only able to keep their families fed, clothed and
the children schooled by working away from their families. They keep
the Republic afloat and suffer from diminished purchasing power with
the high peso to dollar rate.
The unabated exodus of Filipino talents and skills and the social
costs of the OFW phenomenon are top concerns of the Department of
Labor and Employment. It has adopted strategies to raise the
productivity of Filipino labor.
Through the National Wages and Productivity Commission, it conducts
labor education programs, specifically focused on productivity.
The 2008 Productivity Olympics is one such project. It was launched
Thursday, February 21. It is a national competition among micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to find the best in two
categories: people development and business excellence. Enterprises
that have been in operation for at least three years by October 1
last
year may join.
The project promotes worker awareness of the importance of
consciously
improving in productivity while promoting employer awareness of how
to
satisfy their workers with goodies in addition to better wages. It
pushes the enterprises--their owners and managers and their workers--
to
strive to become more competitive.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion says that the Productivity Olympics has
helped in capacity building among the micro, small and medium
enterprises in the industrial, services and agricultural sectors.
The companies that participate in the Olympics benefit by becoming
more and more profitable. The workers benefit by getting better pay
and, with their skills enhanced, finding better work opportunities
abroad and get really much higher income.
The administration's economic managers keep bragging of having
sustained GDP growth all these seven years that Mrs. Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo has been president. 2007 was the best year of the economy in
31
years. They must now, these being days of loud and growing
expressions
of disgust over the alleged corruption of high officials, pay more
attention to the plight of the workers.
A happy population of workers can ensure peace and stability, which
in
turn will ensure that President Arroyo finishes her term in glory
instead of opprobrium.
Helping the Filipino workers raise their labor productivity not only
increases their worth in money. They also see themselves rise in
dignity.
That makes them more disposed to growing also in civility and
culture,
making the Filipinos the bright and happy race God wants them to be.
.
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