THERE is no "great resignation" of workers in Cebu despite the results of the Salary Report 2023 of online job-seeking site Mynimo, the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE 7) said.
Mynimo reported that 43 percent of workers in Cebu plan to resign in the next 90 days.
However, DOLE 7 Director Lilia Estillore told SunStar Cebu Tuesday, May 2, 2023, that the report reflects the views of only 4,500 respondents.
“It doesn’t paint a picture. We can't say that the report represents majority of our workforce. So we don’t believe in that Great Resignation,” she said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, there were around two million people in the labor force in the entire province of Cebu in 2020.
Indicator
Still, DOLE 7 treats the study as an important indicator of dissatisfaction among workers, which has resulted in the rapid turnovers and transfers in industries such as business process outsourcing (BPO).
DOLE 7 is aware that the labor market has become competitive with more BPO companies offering benefits of telecommuting, higher pay with a dollar rate, and various other benefits.
“We don't have to worry because those who resign will just transfer. You wouldn't resign if you didn't have a job to transfer to. So, that will not affect the unemployment rate. We just consider that as transfer,” said Estillore.
Top reasons
Estillore said while most workers in the Mynimo report stated being underpaid as the reason for their resignation, she noted that 90 percent of employers in the region comply with the minimum wage policy.
The minimum wage in Central Visayas for the non-agriculture sector is P435 a day.
She said that due to strong competition among industries in the labor market, people simply have more options and may choose a job according to salary, work setup and other benefits.
Estillore encouraged businesses to implement the Telecommuting Act of 2022, especially for applicable positions, since the trend shows most workers prefer a work-from-home or a hybrid setup.
There are workers who prefer to work from home to save money and time from constantly commuting to work. This also allows workers with families to amply divide their time between work and home.
Finally, Estillore encouraged employers to provide a healthy working environment for their employees because most workers seek jobs where they feel fulfilled, valued, and have the chance for career advancement.
“They won’t look so much at the pay anymore if they can feel that their workplace is their family,” she said.
Keeping talent
To keep and attract the best talents to grow their businesses, employers should not ignore employee compensation and benefits, said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Charles Kenneth Co.
The business leader said companies are advised to review their attrition rates and how they can retain employees through a mix of compensation benefits.
“When workers resign, they usually look for better pay and working environment, so it means there are better job opportunities for them,” said Co.
“I wouldn’t worry yet on the impact (of employee resignation) on the economy. We would be more concerned on unemployment figures, if these start to go up,” he added.
Jobless
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported in February that there were 2.47 million jobless Filipinos.
The top five subsectors with the largest drop in number of employed persons from February 2022 to February 2023 were human health and social work activities (-129,000), construction (-103,000), mining and quarrying (-60,000), information and communication (-55,000) and manufacturing (-38,000).
Buddy Villasis, executive director of Cebu IT-BPM Organization, said he was not aware of Mynimo’s survey.
“As far as we know in the industry, we are experiencing a huge growth, hence the huge demand for people/talents,” said Villasis.
IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) was cited as the top industry that logged the highest resignation rate of 40 percent amid the high take-home pay.
The IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines is pursuing its Roadmap 2028 vision of building a 2.5 million-strong IT-BPM workforce and generating US$59 billion in revenues by 2028.
“If the (Mynimo) survey is correct, it will be unfortunate as businesses are slowly getting back on their feet and the economy is gaining momentum. But the great resignation is happening globally due to a variety of reasons,” said Kelie Ko, president of Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
Ko said employers should be more understanding of this transition, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic has unlocked the different ways of working.
“It is expected that in this period of change and transition workers feel a bit of uncertainty, prompting them to decide to look for a change in tenure. That's the reality that employers need to accept. What is important is that these productive individuals continue to be part of the workforce,” said Ko.
“For companies that want to improve their retention rates, they need to improve the working environment and make employees feel that they are valued,” he added.
Entrepreneur Steven Yu, a former MCCI president, said coming from the pandemic, they’ve observed that in many cases, the intent to quit was borne out of the feeling of being caught between higher prices of goods and services, which has chances of reversing once external factors are resolved; digitalization and online evolution; reopening anxiety and restlessness; transportation costs (from traditional public utility jeepneys to modern PUJs, which cost more); and in some cases, remote work anxiety.
Assets
Yu pointed out that businesses recognize employees as the best assets of the company with many of them resorting to "pay for performance" or adjusting their compensation scheme to make them commensurate to the performance of an employee, to retain talent and ensure business continuity.
He also noted that factors beyond compensation such as non-monetary benefits, work-life balance, personal and job growth, health and wellness, environmental awareness and family orientation are increasingly given emphasis and importance.
“It is a fact that there is hyper-competition in the marketplace partly brought about by technological advancements. Both employees and their employers are entering survival mode, and they are both adjusting until they find the equilibrium of mutual survival and progress,” said Yu.
Co said companies must strengthen and improve their human resource program to retain and develop their employees.
Yu said failure of the businesses and talents to level up and update their skills through constant re-education and upskilling will eventually lead to the contraction of the domestic economy.
“There is a need to constantly upgrade and evolve our educational system to be at par with global standards. This will attract foreign investments and help improve local businesses,” he said.