The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) offers to take in workers from the informal sector, as it plans to revive ECOP’s 2025 Jobs Program through the help of major conglomerates, aimed at producing at least a million jobs for the Filipino workforce.

“The Jobs Program was revived again through the initiatives of the advisers of the President, the PSAC (Private Sector Advisory Council), in cooperation with other industry groups. Examples of the informal sectors are farmers and fisherfolks who don’t have a regular income,” ECOP president Sergio Ortiz Luis Jr. said.

Based on the International Labor Organization study, the informal sector comprises 60 percent of the total workforce who are exempted from the minimum wage.

Big guns back move

According to Ortiz Luis, backing the initiative are the country’s industrialists, including PSAC Lead Convener and Aboitiz Group president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz; Tessie Sy-Coson of the SM Group; Lance Gokongwei of the Gokongwei Group, and the Ayala Group, among many others.

Joey Concepcion, president and chief executive of the publicly-listed food and beverage company RFM Corp., is also participating in the 2025 Jobs Program via his advocacy group Go Negosyo.

ECOP’s Jobs Program was launched in 2021, aiming to produce 1 million jobs for the Filipino workforce. However, it was hampered due to the resurgence of the Covid-19 virus in the said year.

In 2022, the Jobs Program attained the target of creating 1 million jobs.

Aside from the informal sector, the ECOP president said the group is still considering hiring K-12 program graduates.

“That’s the reason why the government, with the help of the private sector, should double time to entice more foreign investors into the country to produce more jobs for Filipinos. The service sector, such as restaurants, are willing to hire these informal workers and the K-12 graduates,” he said.

The 2025 Jobs Program is part of the many projects of ECOP slated in its 50th Anniversary celebration this year, dubbed “ECOP@50: Empowering Employers, Building the Nation.”

That’s the reason why the government, with the help of the private sector, should double time to entice more foreign investors into the country to produce more jobs for Filipinos. The service sector, such as restaurants, are willing to hire these informal workers and the K-12 graduates.

ECOP, this year, will also launch the “Employment Connect Opportunities” digital platform for employment facilitation, concretizing the group’s policy advocacy on job generation in collaboration with private and public institutions.

For the government side, ECOP will be working with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment for the campaign.