Change is coming, and expensive
Home is where the money is. (Photo: MoneyTalksNews)
Workers don’t like going to the office anymore. Honestly, I don’t blame them.
Payroll provider, ADP conducted a survey with 33,000 people in which two-thirds of them said they will be looking for other career opportunities if their current one forces them to return to the office full time.
In a similar survey conducted back in 2021, 36% felt secure with their respective industries. Now, only 25% have the same sentiments.
Most of the reasons came from realizations made during the pandemic. Long work hours, difficulty in traveling to locations, unpaid overtime, and elevated stress levels. It doesn’t come as a surprise though, staying at home and having everything done through the internet really elevates the saying “this could’ve just been an email.” We spent the last few years earning money while we were still in our pajamas, why change all that now, right?
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson says, “The pandemic lingers. The stress induced by the pandemic in the workplace has increased, not decreased.”
It’s not just the people on the ground clamoring for change, even big corporations such as Microsoft believe that the only way employers will sustain their workforces is to adopt a hybrid work setup.
The high price of change
Speaking of sustainability, the National Economic and Development Authority points towards innovation as the Philippines’ answer in transitioning into a high-income country status.
In the first-ever celebration of the National Innovation Day organized by the National Innovation Council, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua believes that “people’s ability to innovate in an increasingly competitive and resource-constrained world” is what’s needed.
Chua mentions that a full implementation of Republic Act No. 11293 or the Philippine Innovation Act will support more research, development, and adaptation of new technologies and processes in the country.
At the same event, Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon presented The National Innovation agenda framework which has a 10-year roadmap for innovation governance across ten priority areas.
These include food and agribusiness, energy, blue economy and water, trade, transportation and logistics, finance, health, security and defense, learning and education, and public administration.
Fingers crossed that this will push through since for the longest time, research and development haven’t exactly been supported well in the Philippines. If the country is ever going to have a big economic comeback, it’ll definitely need big brains to lead the charge.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III did say last Thursday, April 21, that the next administration will have a heck of a debt to pay and it’s all thanks to COVID. Oh, and the economic implications of the war between Russia and Ukraine don’t help either. So much for an economic comeback.
The Department of Finance said that it would take up to 40 years to pay off all the additional foreign debt, amounting to at least P1.3 trillion.
Dominguez added that, “The next administration will have to design policies and stick to very strict fiscal discipline to grow out of this debt problem.” A few months ago, Dominguez already brought up this debt problem and he mentioned that they’re working on a fiscal consolidation plan. Let’s hope that’s still in the works and this statement is not just him trying to pass the responsibility to someone else.
About a week after Dominguez said that the Philippines should avoid more debt, the finance secretary signed an agreement in Tokyo which states that Japan will loan P12.3 billion to the Philippines for COVID support. *Sigh*
