In an economic forum of the Management Association of the Philippines on Thursday, former National Economic and Development Authority Director General Cielito F. Habito said there has been a dramatic shift in job generation in the country as a result of the pandemic.
Based on a presentation, Habito said between October 2019 and October 2021, agriculture and fisheries gained 650,000 workers. This has made the sector the “biggest single provider of jobs in the economy.” “But [there was a] 2.9-million decline in people who are working 40 hours or more per week. So the informal sector work is likely to be the dominant kind of work now,” he added.
“I think the Philippines has this inner capability to grow much faster than it has shown in the past years. Agriculture alone, my favorite, because you know I’ve shown how it’s really the backbone, has so great potential, has much scope for further growth if only we would have a much more outward looking orientation in the sector,” he also said.
“The Philippines has been experiencing fast growth for the last 15 to 20 years and a lot of that is productivity growth. As we know from global experience, productivity growth tends to slow down if there are no new reforms. So to go back to 6 percent, we need to implement those structural reforms,” Qian said.