EMPLOYMENT rate for Davao region hiked to 96.4 percent as of October this year, according to the data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
For the same period last year, it was at 94.5 percent.
Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Assistant Regional Director Jason Balais said the job fairs that Dole had launched this year, including the Labor Day and the Independence Day job fairs, could have contributed to this increase.
This is aside from the increase in investment activities especially in real estate development and mall constructions.
President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to other countries is also fanning investor interests in the Philippines, most especially to Davao region, where the president resides.
For the agriculture sector, banana and other fruit orders for export had started to increase, which means additional manpower and hectares of land are needed. These all add up to an increase in job offers in the region.
On December 16, the minimum wage increase took effect.
For the non-agriculture sector, from P317, minimum wage was already increased to P340 inclusive of the P5 cost of living allowance (Cola).
For the agriculture sector, minimum wage is P335 inclusive of the P5 Cola.
While for those retails and services establishments with less than 10 employees, minimum wage is P315 inclusive of the P5 Cola.
“I don’t think the increase will discourage investors to come to Davao region. They will have to factor in the new minimum wage in their investments and we’re confident that people will not shy away simply because we have increased our minimum wage,” Balais said in an interview.
Last week, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) held the Technology Transfer Day at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang.
DOST-Davao Assistant Regional Director Elsie Mae Solidum said with this emergence of new technologies is the possible decrease in job availabilities for the beneficiary areas.
However, Balais is positive these new technologies will not affect or decrease the demand of agricultural manpower.
“The introduction of technology and automation will not affect the employment of people. In the banana industry, the ratio of our hectarage to workers is still the same. We still maintain that for every hectare, at least there would be one employee. That has not changed over the years in spite the introduction of several technologies in terms of harvest, in terms of planting,” Balais said.
Also, after the president’s directive, a variety of 63 establishments from Davao Region already volunteered to end the contractualization practice in their companies.
A total of 7,728 workers from these establishments were already for regularization. These companies include banana plantations, retail establishments, resorts, and gasoline stations among others.