PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered an extension on the engagement of contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers in government whose contracts will expire in December this year, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Thursday, April 25, 2024.
In a statement, the PCO said Marcos issued the order during a sectoral meeting with the Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Civil Service Commission, and Commission on Audit in Malacañang on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Marcos also ordered government agencies to conduct training to help COS and JO workers develop their skills and capabilities, and also enable them to pass the civil service examination that will make them eligible for a permanent position in the government.
He said his administration aims to build a pool of government workers who can perform and qualify for government’s plantilla positions.
Marcos said he also wanted the agencies to conduct a thorough study of the current state of the government workforce, including the COS and JOs.
“Pag-aralan natin (Let’s study it). Just look at the numbers, the data on average, and government agencies. How many of their employees are contractual?” he said.
“How many items in their plantilla proper are not filled? How many are contractual as a percentage of the total number of employees? Kasi the percentages are one of the most important. Then titingnan natin is average. [It will] give us an idea how people are using the system,” Marcos added.
COS refers to the engagement of the services of an individual, private firm, other government agency, non-government agency, or international organization as a consultant, learning service provider, or technical expert to undertake a special project or job within a specific period.
JO, on the other hand, refers to piece work (pakyaw), intermittent or emergency jobs to be undertaken for a short duration and for a specific piece of job.
As of June 30, 2023, 29.68 percent or 832,812 government workers were COS and JO.
The figure is 29.71 percent more than the COS and JO workers in 2022.
The top five National Government agencies with the highest number of COS and JO workers include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), 29,275; Department of Health (DOH), 18,264; Department of Education (DepEd), 15,143; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 13,770; and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), 10,990. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)