WITH the declining demand for products of the automotive and semiconductors industries, manufacturing companies at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) strive to remain optimistic and hope for an uptrend this year even though their main markets are in recession.
MEZ Human Resource Associations (MEZ-HRA) president Jeoffrey Escala said about 70 percent of MEZ companies export to Japan while some supply markets in the United States.
As Japan and the US are in recession, MEZ companies face the possibility of further decline in orders this year, he said.
MEZ companies are engaged in the manufacture and export of garments; iron and steel; electronics; semiconductors; machinery and machine parts; novelty items; processed food; wires; auto wire harness; plastic, wood, paper and rubber products; watches; camera and camera parts, among others.
Although the Semiconductor Industry Association in the US recently reported a decline in global semiconductor sales and with Japan’s economy in turmoil, Escala said MEZ locators are still hoping for a recovery by the middle of this year.
Escala said that they are not discounting the possibility of “reducing people” or work force this year after they have been advised “to tighten their belts and prepare for the worst.”
“But (reducing work force) is our last recourse,” stressed Escala.
Shorter workweek
The Partido ng Manggagawa reported earlier that 3,000 workers at MEZ were displaced as of October 2008. The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), however, described the figure as “exaggerated.”
Escala said that before initiating any plans of employee retrenchment, MEZ-HRA and the Dole prefer that management shorten the work week from six days to five or four days, instead, as a measure to cope with the crisis.
“If this (measure) will not be sustained, there will be a scheduled vacation for the people. But if the workload of the company (still doesn’t improve), that will be the time we will work with Dole in terms of reducing head count. But, as I’ve said, that is our last recourse,” Escala said.
He cited Lear Automotive Services, a manufacturer of automotive wire harness, which have coordinated with Dole in relation to its work force reduction.
Escala pointed out that workers at most of the companies at MEZ had a long vacation, from Dec. 24, 2008 until yesterday. In previous years, some companies continued operating during Christmas to fulfill huge orders.
He also said that the HR departments of MEZ companies are “actively communicating” with their respective personnel in the light of the global financial crisis.
MEZ-HRA is an association of 150 HR managers from export zones in Mactan, Danao and Naga, which are registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. (NRC)
