More than 3 million workers affected by pandemic – DOLE

MANILA, Philippines — The number of workers who suffered loss of income and employment nationwide due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exceeded three million, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported.

Based on its data, a total of 3,023,587 workers were affected after 107,148 establishments opted to temporarily close shop or adopt flexible work arrangements since the pandemic began.

Of that number, 1,993,314 workers were affected by temporary closure and another 1,160,663 by flexible work arrangements. DOLE also reported that 5,672 establishments have resorted to permanent closures and retrenchments starting January this year.

The National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest displacement with 52,814 workers, followed by Calabarzon with 31,254 and Central Luzon with 15,524.

The highest displacement of 50,589 workers was recorded last June and followed by 23,244 workers in July.

The most affected industry was administrative and support services which accounted for 25 percent of displaced workers.

Meanwhile, DOLE reported having repatriated 95,702 overseas Filipino workers since the COVID-19 pandemic began as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III gave assurance that the government would exhaust all means to help them regain the jobs they lost abroad. The number includes the 1,691 OFWs sent back to their respective provinces last Saturday after testing negative for the coronavirus and more than 34,000 last May.

It also said that the number of OFWs seeking assistance further jumped to 572,442.