WFH | Marcos’ adviser bats for return to office for increased mobility, economic growth

August 23, 2023 , 03:52 PM

(August 23, 2023) – An adviser of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. on Tuesday reiterated his push to return to the face-to-face work setup to increase mobility in the hopes of boosting the economy.

Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and a member of the Private Sector Advisory Council, said each company can decide if it wants to push through with a work-from-home or hybrid setup but the main goal should be toward job generation and economic growth.

“What we want to see is more mobility,” said Concepcion on One News’ The Big Story. “Imagine if everybody works from home, what do you think will happen to the offices and the buildings, the canteens, the MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) that support the whole system? They will also lose business.”

He clarified that he understood the need for a work-life balance and the persistent issues with heavy traffic, especially in Metro Manila, but he stressed that mobility is important to stimulate the economy.

Based on a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the economy only grew by 4.3% during the second quarter of the year, the slowest growth in the last 12 years.

“When you go to a place and you see the city bustling with a lot of mobility, you know that this city is moving along. But if the city is empty and totally no traffic at all, I would get worried—that means there is less economic activity,” said Concepcion, adding the need to create a “driven” workforce.

He also shared his thoughts on the work-from-home or hybrid setup in a briefing at Malacañang last Monday. According to him, the remote setup can only be more suitable during a pandemic.

Last July, Marcos lifted the state of public health emergency following the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially allowing more industries to return to a physical work setup after three years of work-from-home or hybrid setup.

But even before this, the volume of vehicles in EDSA was already at 470,000 every day, as of December 2022, breaching the level recorded prior to the health crisis. In December 2019, the daily vehicle volume in EDSA was 405,000.

Filipinos regularly express their frustration on social media about the difficulty of commuting to and from work or school, slamming the long lines, poor mass transport system, and heavy traffic.

Last year, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 1149 that sought to provide tax incentives for those on a work-from-home or telecommuting program, citing its positive impact on decongesting traffic. However, the proposal is still pending with the ways and means committee, based on the Senate website.

“Ang remote working arrangement ay nagpapalawak ng work-life balance ng ating mga empleyado. Bukod sa nagpapataas ito ng productivity at mas nagiging competitive ang mga kompanyang nagpapatupad nito, nakakatulong pa itong mapabuti ang kalusugan ng ating mga kababayan,” Gatchalian was quoted as saying in a media report.

(PM)

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