By Christine Joyce S. Castañeda

Senior Researcher

MORE PEOPLE were hired than those who either resigned or were laid off in the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

According to the PSA’s first nationwide Labor Turnover Survey, the labor turnover rate — the difference between those hired (reflected in the accession rate) and those who left or were terminated (as tallied in the separation rate) — was 1.94% in the first three months of 2018.

This means that for every 1,000 persons employed, 19 were added to the work force on a net basis during the quarter, with 95 new hires against 76 who were either laid off or resigned.

The rate of accession — which covers hiring to either replace former employees or expand the work force — was recorded at 9.53%. Broken down, 3.89% accounted for expansion-related hiring while 5.64% covered hiring to replace former employees.

Meanwhile, the separation rate was 7.59% during the quarter, of which 4.61% were employee-initiated separations or resignations and 2.99% were layoffs.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at the Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) said that the “employment bump” was mainly due to the “unusually” strong economic growth in 2017, even though the election year of 2016 provided a high base.

“This somehow dictates an economic growth momentum for the economy and [the first quarter of 2018 labor turnover result] is obviously a result of that momentum,” he said.

The economy grew by 6.7% in 2017, against 6.9% growth in 2016.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael L. Ricafort attributed the net job gains to “improved” economic fundamentals and favorable demographics, which made the investment case for the Philippines “compelling.”

“These positive factors have led to continued growth in local and foreign investments — especially the new record high in foreign direct investment (FDI) at $10 billion in 2017 which was still growing at the start of 2018 — creating more jobs and other employment opportunities,” Mr. Ricafort said.

The labor turnover rate was highest in the industry sector at 3.69% after a 12.28% accession rate and 8.58% separation rate.

The agriculture sector posted a 2.07% turnover rate with accession and separation rates of 6.97% and 4.90%, respectively.

The services sector posted the lowest turnover rate at 1.37% on accession and separation rates of 8.81% and 7.43%, respectively.

“The continued pick-up in manufacturing and the record-high FDIs have helped in creating more jobs/greater employment growth especially in the industry sectors as well as in other related industries,” RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said.

UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion said: “Industry, particularly the manufacturing sector, has experienced increased growth in the previous years, and employment in the sector in general will consequently experience an uptick as well.”

“Agriculture has not experienced any huge shocks in the last two years, and agriculture output has been relatively stable. Services has been slow because of external environment difficulties and uncertainties,” he added.

The highest net employment gains were seen in professional, scientific and technical activities (5.13%); manufacturing (4.43%); and financial and insurance activities (2.21%).

Meanwhile, subsectors that posted net losses in employment were real estate activities (-2.23%), education (-1.02%) and “other service activities” (-0.87%).

“I expect employment to grow and be robust this year with economic growth expected to be more than 6%,” UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion said going forward.

RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said that job prospects “could remain positive in the coming quarters” amid sustained growth in consumer-related industries and investments coupled with increased government spending on infrastructure, “all of which create new job and other business opportunities.”

The report covered 30,508 establishments with an estimated employment of around 4.7 million during the first quarter.