SEIPI, Tesda ink deal to ‘retool’ workers

MANILA, Philippines – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has earmarked P100 million to “retool” workers in the semiconductor and electronics sectors, in an effort to equip them with new skills that they can tap when the industry picks up.

The retooling program is being done under a memorandum of agreement with the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc.

According to Association of Seipi Personnel Administrators chair Artemio del Rosario, the training program would be done in 10 tranches, with each tranche provided a P10-million budget.

“The first P10 million has already been given and the program ongoing. That will be subject to Tesda’s audit. After that, we can proceed with the next tranche,” he said.
He related that this was the perfect time to conduct retraining and retooling as most manufacturing plants were not operating at full capacity.

This gave companies the leeway to send their engineers and other workers to training programs.

“This agreement is meant to enhance the skills of our engineers and technicians so their learning can be put to better use. Since most plant capacities are not fully utilized now, we have time to train our engineers and technicians,” he said.

Apart from the Tesda training program, he said Seipi had also signed a deal with the Department of Labor and Employment for the conduct of livelihood and entrepreneurial training, which would be particularly useful to displaced workers in the industry.

In an earlier interview, he said companies in the industry had started to rehire, with plant production starting to pick up.

“There are companies now that are rehiring workers, and there are companies that are expanding. Business is picking up,” he said.

“Those who were laid off are coming back, and we haven’t heard of companies still implementing shorter workweeks. Some are even operating overtime,” he added.

Companies now are starting to boost their capacity in a bid to rebuild inventories in preparation for future demand.–Abigail L. Ho, Philippine Daily Inquirer