‘Traffic, infra projects should not dictate business hours’

MANILA, Philippines – A business leader slammed the proposal to grant workers flexible work schedules or to mandate the change in business hours to help ease the heavy Metro Manila traffic.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chairman Sergoio Ortiz Jr. said that traffic congestion due to infrastructure projects should not dictate the way businesses operate.

“Dapat boluntaryo kasi kapag minandate mo ‘yan, malaki ang mawawala sa kumpanya … Kailangan, kanya-kanyang diskarte ‘yung time,” Ortiz said in an interview with dzMM on Tuesday.

Besides the flexible working scheme and change in operational hours, groups have also proposed a compressed work week and alternating office reporting days.

Ortiz said, however, that there are work flows and operations that cannot easily be forced to change as these depend on factors even the government cannot control.

He explained that many business-to-business transactions rely heavily on the compatibility in schedules of companies and their employees.

Ortiz said said that not all workers are alike, as some have their own vehicles while others use the public transportation, and the profile differs in every company.

“Yung mga buyer mo, yung mga delivery mo, apektado ba? So titingnan muna ng mga individual company kung anong oras yung mabuti sa kanila,” Ortiz said.

“Hindi mo rin masasabi kung ano talaga ang makakabuti,” he said. –Camille Diola (philstar.com)