40K-140K MAGIGING JOBLESS SA P35 NCR WAGE HIKE

MAY 40,000 hanggang 140,000 manggagawa ang maaaring mawalan ng trabaho sa inaprubahang P35 dagdag sa daily minimum wage sa National Capital Region (NCR), ayon kay National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Sinabi ni Balisacan na ang wage hike ay maaari ring makaapekto sa unemployment rate ng bansa.

”[F]or the wage orders that have been issued as of March 2024, we still have all the numbers but our estimates so far suggest that the national output GDP would be impacted negatively. But it’s a very small impact. It’s just one-tenth of… about one-tenth of one percent,”  paliwanag ng NEDA chief.

”It’s very negligible. It could increase the unemployment rate. But again, it’s a very negligible number and it could impact something like 40,000 to 140,000, depending on the region. But still again, not as big as one would expect if those rate adjustments were much higher,” dagdag pa niya.

Ani Balisacan, hindi naman mapipigilan ng wage hike ang paglago ng ekonomiya ng bansa.

”For so long as those wage adjustments are not too high to discourage investments, those adjustments are welcome,” aniya.

”And the data that we have seen is that as of March, April this year – those adjustments are simply adjusting to the level of inflation, and a little bit more so that the purchasing power of workers, wages, and salaries will not fall. And that should not worry the business community.”

Ang wage order ay inilabas ng National Wages and Productivity Commission noong July 1 at magiging epektibo 15 araw matapos itong malathala sa national dailies.

Ayon sa  Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), ang mga retail at service establishment na nag-eempleyo ng hindi hihigit sa 10 manggagawa, at mga kompanya na naapektuhan ng natural calamities at/o human-induced disasters, ay maaaring mag-apply sa Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board ng exemption mula sa wage hike.

Hindi rin sakop ng dagdag-sahod ang Barangay Micro Business Enterprises tulad ng nakasaad sa Republic Act No. 9178.