1,000 Cebu City hall employees lose jobs as Rama effects ‘rightsizing’

As Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama starts this year his goal of "rightsizing" the city government's manpower, about 1,000 casual employees are now unemployed.

Rama told the media that the plan is to trim the number of employees, whether regular, casual, or job order (JO), to just 3,000 before his term ends in 2025.

He clarified though that to prevent the matter from being politicized, the employees' work performance will be evaluated. Those who pass will be retained, those who fail will go.

He wanted to streamline "online transactions" and go paperless in all offices and departments for easier business at the city hall. He expects 27 departments to be connected online.

"We're pursuing doing an ease of doing business, and online too. Twenty-seven departments are expected to be online. So there will less people coming to City Hall and because of that we are pursuing 'rightsizing' as a management prerogative," Rama said.

The Commission on Audit (COA) had found the number to be excessive and regarded to be a " waste of money."

Rama recalled when he first became mayor in 2010, the city hall had around 4,000 employees, this increased to 10,000 when the coronavirus pandemic struck under the late Mayor Edgardo Labella.

The rightsizing was supposed to start in October 2023, but Rama deferred it to 2024 so the employees would receive their Christmas bonus.

"Likely, the regular employees will not be affected by the downsizing since they cannot be terminated because of security of tenure unless, of course, there are grounds. Number two, for casuals, if they are not renewed, then they are terminated but they are not renewed. Non-renewal and termination are not the same. When it comes to job orders, it's the same with casuals," the mayor stressed.

Based on the city's Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) data, Cebu City Hall has around 9,000 employees.

More than 4,000 are JOs, while 3,212 are casual employees, around 200 are co-terminus, 40-plus are contractual, and only 1,400 are regular employees.

Cebu City Government has 3,888 plantilla or regular positions.

In Mandaue City, city administrator Jamaal James Calipayan revealed that some city hall departments have started to comply with their Individual Performance Commitment and Review (IPCPR) forms since December as part of the annual employee evaluation and right-sizing.

"If you say it's right-sizing, you don't need to downsize or upsize but try to fit in the employees where they are actually fit," he explained.

"In fact, last year, we abolished positions that haven't been filled up for a long time because it has been created a long time ago, like 30 years ago, and it's not applicable now. We also create positions that the departments need to fill," Calipayan added.

Mandaue City Government had around 3,200 job orders and 900 regular employees.

He advised city officials to prioritize hiring employees for vital services such as those for solid waste management and frontline services.

"We don't have a specific number, we don't have a target, we have enough budget for the existing JO; so budget-wise, we can maintain the existing employees. The only thing we really want is that we will not also harbor and continue to maintain employees who are not able to help the city," Calipayan said.

Initially, five JO employees were unable to renew their contracts upon testing positive for illegal drugs and refusing to undergo the city's rehabilitation program during last year's employee performance evaluation.