The outlook looks promising according to the OEM.
The Manila Bulletin reported that the Philippines is favoured over other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries because most of the workforce are fluent in English, making communication easier; labour is cheaper and it is easier to hire staff; and there is “less frequency in wage increase[s]” which are the reasons Epson has chosen to expand “its business in the Philippines”.
Alastair Bourne, spokesperson for Epson, said that “the workforce in the Philippines is very capable, very talented and very adaptable”, with Epson having two manufacturing sites in the country making printers and projectors, but also having invested in a new site in Batangas due to be started in 2017, which could boost the workforce from 12,500 to 20,000.
Bourne commented that “hopefully, that would [lead] to a significant increase in employment in the Philippines”, although this may be jeopardised by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration who are overseeing the “stop endo” policy, which means that the termination of an employee after five months employment will cease to be legal by 2017; and Duterte has even “threatened to shut down companies engaged in contractualisation”.
The Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) announced that its target was to reduce contractualisation by 50 percent by the end of the year, and Labour Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III wants the five-year-old Labour order cancelled this year. The DOLE chief has said that “short term employment contracts” are “contrary to the provisions of Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, as amended, or are in circumvention of Article 249, are not allowed”.
Epson “has contravened” the new end-of contract rule according to the news outlet, and is hoping that the new law will give companies “sufficient time to implement appropriate actions”, Bourne noting that “it would include measures that would allow us to make adjustments that take into account seasonal changes in production levels”.
He also stated that “Epson is a law-abiding company” and that it “believes in acting in a way that earns the trust of its employees and local communities”, pointing out that “our stance on the law is that it would not be appropriate to comment at this stage because we do not know the details of the law. When this becomes apparent we will study the details and act appropriately”.