THE expansion of an inclusive employment program to Cebu City is expected to widen job opportunities for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs), while giving businesses another way to tap an underutilized segment of the workforce.
The Jollibee Group, in partnership with the Cebu City Government, will provide employment opportunities to qualified senior citizens and PWDs as customer relations staff across 36 participating Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich and Burger King stores.
The Cebu initiative marks the program’s first expansion into the Visayas.
Under the partnership, the Cebu City Government will assist with applicant intake and profiling, health clearances, training and information dissemination, as well as monitoring and other support. The company will provide job orientation and training and facilitate the opening of payroll bank accounts at no cost to qualified hires.
The initiative could help bring employment closer to older workers and PWDs who may face barriers to entering or remaining in the formal workforce, while allowing participating businesses to broaden their pool of potential employees.
The program, launched in 2019, has provided employment opportunities to more than 1,000 senior citizens and PWDs through partnerships with local governments. In 2025 alone, 451 people were newly hired, including 285 senior citizens and 166 deaf or mute employees.
The participating workers perform customer-facing and other front-of-house functions, allowing them to remain economically active while supporting store operations.
For Cebu City, the partnership also adds an employment-support mechanism that involves both the local government and private sector, potentially making it easier for qualified workers to access formal jobs and related workplace training. / KOC