DoLE, Jollibee forge MoA on youth employment

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has joined hands with Jollibee, the country’s biggest and first global fast food chain, to assist disadvantaged Filipino youth become more employable, productive members of society.

Last week, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Jollibee Foods Corporation on the DOLE’s Youth Education–Youth Employability (YE-YE) Project .

Baldoz signed the accord during a simple ceremony at the DoLE’s Blas F. Ople Hall in Intramuros, Manila together with Jollibee vice president for corporate human resources John Victor Tence, representing Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee founder-chairman and CEO. Labor Undersecretary for social protection Lourdes Trasmonte and Arthur Juego, president of the Pambansang Kilusan ng Paggawa, witnessed the signing.

In her brief remarks after the signing, Baldoz said the accord is in consonance with the overarching goal enunciated by President Aquino in his 22-point labor and employment agenda to “invest in our country’s top resource, our human resource, to make us more competitive and employable while promoting industrial peace based on social justice.”

She also said the agreement is in accord with the President’s emphasis on public-private partnerships to spur economic and employment growth.

The YE-YE, a project supervised by the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns headed by Director Chita Cilindro, calls for the DoLE, in collaboration and partnership with private corporations/companies, or educational institutions, to enter into partnerships for the purpose of providing the youth with opportunities to pursue post-secondary courses.

“Such partnerships will provide the youth with formal workplace experiences, using DoLE-prescribed topics on work attitudes and ethics, including the values of hard work, patience, savings, self-reliance, self-discipline, respect for the rights of others, work safety and health, good housekeeping, the efficient use of meager resources, and productivity,” the Secretary said.

The YE-YE, she explained, has a three-fold objective, which are to: (a) address the needs of the disadvantaged youth to pursue an academic or technical-vocational, post-secondary course toward becoming more employable and more productive members of the labor force; (b) support human capital build-up by providing the youth some workplace experience while studying; and (c) to develop among the youth the proper work values and ethics through exposure to formal workplace situations and challenges under responsible adult supervision.

“Jollibee, as the country’s biggest fast food chain, is in a position to help in the effort to provide the youth with opportunities for them to become more productive,” she said.

Corporate data show that Jollibee employs more than 29,000 workers in its more than 600 branches nationwide and more than 50 overseas stores. Its corporate network includes the popular brands Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Manong Pepe’s, and Mang Inasal. PNA