Global crisis displaces 5,000 CL workers

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    CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here said the worldwide economic crisis has already displaced some 5,000 workers in Central Luzon since last November, but the local call center industry remains in need of thousands more of agents.

    “The government is ready with financial assistance for them as well as others in the labor sector affected by the current crisis,” DOLE regional director Nathaniel Lacambra told Punto.

    Lacambra said that some 5,000 workers in the region were either laid off or whose employment had been subject to “rescheduling” that led to lesser pay.

    “We have to tell the truth about this situation, while putting emphasis on the fact that the government is also trying its best to cushion the impact of the global crisis,” he said.

    Lacambra said he expected bigger allocations this year for livelihood assistance for affected workers, noting that last year, Central Luzon got P30 million for its regular share such assistance coursed through the DOLE, plus another P29 million for the department’s “Tupad” and “Isla” programs.

    The latter two programs, he said, were successfully piloted last year in Central Luzon. “The President now wants them done in 77 provinces nationwide,” he added.

    He explained that the “Tupad” program grants families of displaced workers enough cash to provide them their basic needs until such time as their bread winners get another employment, while the “Isla” program gives financial help to fisherfolk.

    “I think that we will receive a bigger allocation this year to assist our affected labor sector in the region,” he said, even as he announced that the DOLE is set to conduct a jobs fair caravan at Luisita industrial park in Tarlac City this Jan. 29.

    Lacambra said that apart from livelihood assistance, DOLE has embarked on “retraining” programs to provide new skills to the local labor force to square with employment opportunities in other sectors.

    “The call center industry has remained in need of tens of thousands of agents. In Central Luzon alone, my estimate is that call centers are still wanting of some 20,000 agents,” he noted.

    He noted that most of the affected workers were from the electronics industry. Records from the DOLE here said that in the last quarter of 2008 alone, 2,625 workers from six manufacturing and electronic companies in Pampanga, Bulacan and Tarlac were displaced.

    The employees came from Currey International Inc., Furniture Village, Sub-Miniature Lamps Industries Inc., Hi-tech Steel Industries Corporation, International Wiring Systems (Phils.) Corporation, International Electric Wire Phils., and Champion Foundry Corporation.

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