MANILA, Philippines – A job searching website believes that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected over two million people in the world, would introduce changes in labor practices, especially in the use of work-from-home schemes.
According to Jobstreet, more employees would push for increased benefits and for possible work-from-home methods as it appears to be a more viable option even after the various lockdowns end.
“Since the implementation of community quarantine, we have already seen drastic changes in the workforce […] JobStreet.com believes there will be many changes that are bound to stick as we take on learnings from this outbreak,” a statement from the site’s management said.
“Remote work is the future — and we are seeing it now more than ever. Because of the mandatory home quarantine, most companies have been forced to shift their gears and adopt digital ways,” they added.
Jobstreet also sees the outbreak as an opportunity for workers to seek mandatory health insurance, especially since data sourced from their site’s users showed that 94.6 percent believe that government benefits are important, 84.6 percent feel the same about medical insurances.
“Aside from mandatory government benefits, medical and insurance coverage for both the employee and their families is a must—especially for those who cannot afford to work from home,” Jobstreet explained.
“The lack of sick leaves has become a huge issue that came about with the COVID-19 outbreak. With Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) needing to self-quarantine, most paid leaves have been used up even before symptoms arose,” they noted.
Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, the government placed Luzon and other areas under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). Department of Health officials said that there are now 5,660 COVID-19 patients, 362 of which have died while at least 435 recovered from the disease.
Worldwide, over 2.06 million individuals have been infected, while 134,216 have died from the disease and 513,820 have recovered from it.
During the ECQ, people were ordered to stay at home, therefore suspending work except for essential frontline services like hospitals, food chains, and those in law enforcement agencies.
However, this has left people who rely on daily wages and earnings, and those whose work cannot adopt to a work-from-home scheme, without any income through the lockdown.
Jobstreet claimed that the changes brought by the ECQ would also apply not only for workers but also for companies. According to them, more companies would likely employ stronger corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures to highlight their company’s advocacies.
“We’ve seen that several conglomerates been in the limelight amid the COVID-19 pandemic because they’ve exemplified high standards of corporate social responsibility. They hugely supported our frontliners and daily wage earners through donations and relief efforts,” Jobstreet explained.
“While SMEs aren’t exactly in the same position as these conglomerates to provide magnanimously during crises, they can still use this opportunity to highlight their company’s mission and advocacies. If you own a small business, show the purpose behind your brand. Allow your employees to see how [consistent] their efforts are on the larger scale of things,” they added.