Over 160,000 jobless due to closures, retrenchment: DOLE

August 17, 2020

More than 160,000 workers have lost their jobs after over 8,000 companies shut down or implemented retrenchment due to the quarantine measures to contain  the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The latest Job Displacement Monitoring Report of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed that a total of 8,325 companies had displaced 164 185 workers, as of August 16.

"A total of 164,485 workers were displaced nationwide from 8,325 establishments from January 2020 to present as reported by the DOLE Regional Offices, with 90 percent of which reduced workforce (7,460), while the remaining 10 percent reported permanent closure (865)," it said.

The report said the 865 firms that reported permanent closure displaced a total of 15,266 workers.

The 7,460 companies that retrenched workers affected 149,219 employees.

In just the first half of August, a total of 22,914 employees from 1,510 firms have lost their jobs.

June tallied the highest number of reporting establishments with 2,602, which meant that 50,589 workers were displaced.

The National Capital Region (NCR) had the most number of displaced workers with 80,199; followed by Calabarzon with 32,896.

According to major industry group, the sector with most displaced workers were administrative and support service (38,311); followed by  other service activities (21,007); and manufacturing (20,727). DMS