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Monday, July 03, 2006
Fix Central Visayas wage rates: development agency
CEBU CITY -- The low productivity of construction workers has led to the higher cost of labor, causing losses to investors in Central Visayas.
Minimum wage rates should be reclassified by industry and by level of expertise, instead of by area, to address the problem, a government report suggested.
Quoting industry players, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 gave this recommendation in its first quarter regional economic situationer.
It was made public, even as the regional wage board prepares to consult people on petitions to increase minimum wages in Central Visayas, where Metro Cebu workers get the highest floor wage.
The report also noted the shortage of skilled manpower in the construction industry. Filling this gap is critical, as the industry's activities pick up.
"Notable among the big construction projects that were started during the quarter were the Cebu International Convention Center, the five-story annex of SM mall and the 19-story Tower Palace in the Cebu Business Park," the Neda report said.
Its other recommendations include the need for "vigorous support" for the training of skilled workers and the establishment of more skills training centers.
The report further recommended that the low take-up rate in call centers must be addressed or else, investments in outsourcing might slow down.
The lack of qualified manpower is also affecting the medical profession, with many doctors and nurses going abroad. The "brain drain" may affect potential investments in medical tourism and retirement village facilities.
Aside from the exodus of medical practitioners abroad, the country's aviation industry is also losing its pilots and mechanics to foreign airlines.
The report said that this affects current operations of domestic airline companies, especially those that plan to expand.
The region has also not taken advantage of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), even with its emerging demand. KPO requires a high level of knowledge in delivering outputs.
The report also raised some concerns on information technology (IT), saying "glitches" in the IT infrastructure have a negative impact on investment promotion.
However, this problem is not limited to the region but is a reality in the entire country.
The Philippines' rating in the Network Readiness Index has slid in the last five years. In 2005, it landed in the 70th place, among 115 countries.
"This means that the country, as a whole, is not only not utilizing the opportunities of IT but also hindering the advances that it brings," the report said.
"There is a need for a comprehensive, synchronized and public sector-led approach to IT development to narrow the digital gap between urban and rural areas."
The report urged government to subsidize a "high-capacity data backbone that should be treated as public national highways for knowledge and information." (AAG of Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 3, 2006 issue)
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