‘Reskilling, upskilling workers needed for gender inclusion’

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales, Manila Times, 20 Feb 2020

Flexible work arrangements may have sustained businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, but upskilling and reskilling employees are needed to allow workers, especially women, to cope with the resulting digital shift, according to an employers’ organization.

During a webinar organized in part by the Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippines Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) on Tuesday, Jose Roland Moya, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) director, said these arrangements not only ensured the sustainability of enterprises, but also promoted gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

According to him, the transition to a digital economy caused by the health crisis and work-from-home schemes helped women gain more control of their roles at work and at home.

“Flexible work arrangements have afforded women the ability to have a work-life balance by allowing them to discharge both roles. Working from home, allows workers, especially women, to address family demands by providing a possibility to integrate and synchronize their work and family responsibilities,” Moya said.

“Women who are given the opportunity to work from home are able to perform work-related tasks while attending to family [matters],” he added.

Moya also said that by implementing these arrangements, businesses helped their workers become more efficient and perform better. But he added that to ensure this, employees must be equipped with the right skills.

“We need to reskill and upskill our workers, especially women, not only to prepare them for the so-called future of work, but also to provide safe and decent work for all,” the ECOP official said.

“As we move toward going digital, let us not forget the need to put our people at the center of our priorities. Employers will have to address the growing digital skills gap within the workforce to ensure that employees are able to cope up with a paradigm shift,” he added.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Moya said the labor force participation rate of women is significantly lower than men’s.

This, he added, raises the need to push for a more diverse workplace, and open more opportunities for women by acknowledging their capabilities in the same way their male colleagues are.

“The upskilling and rescaling initiative on the part of every employer is an important factor that will support the move for gender equality, as well as diversity and inclusion in the workplace,” Moya said.

“If employers invest in reskilling they can maximize the gains, especially from female workers while ensuring that they stay competitive and are able to maximize their competitiveness for employment opportunities,” he added.

PBCWE Executive Director Julia Abad, meanwhile, said the pandemic presented an opportunity to increase productivity by improving quality of life through FWAs, but added that these must be formalized to avoid inequalities.

“Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been seeing the largest natural experiment on flexible work arrangements. Measures imposed enabled flexible work anywhere and anytime as an imperative business solution to the abruptly announced quarantine restrictions,” Abad said.

“Flexible work needs to work for the entire team and not just for some,” she added.