More than 80,000 workers in the Cordillera are employed by the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Based on the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority-Cordillera, the region’s 22,493 MSMEs have employed 80,527 individuals in 2021.
The figure, according to PSA-Cordillera Statistician Lito Pagaduan, represents those in the formal sector, or the registered businesses.
Micro enterprises, or those with asset size of P3 million, have generated employment for 50,757 workers. There were 21,195 establishments falling under the micro classification.
Small enterprises, or those with asset size less of than P15M, employed 25,968 individuals. There were 1,270 establishments classified as small enterprises in 2021, according to Pagaduan.
Medium-sized enterprises generated employment for 3,802 individuals in the region last year. The PSA recorded 28 establishments classified as medium enterprises or those with P100M capitalization.
Pagaduan said the 80,527 employment generated by MSMEs is 75.6 percent of the 106,503 workers employed both by MSMEs and large enterprises in the region last year.
Large firms employed 25,976 workers or 24.40 percent of the total jobs generated in the region.
Last year’s data on the number of MSMEs is more than the 20,417 listed by the PSA in 2018, but the number of individuals employed that time is 88,753, which is higher than the 80,527 employed by MSMEs last year.
PSA Information Officer Rick Jason Aquino said one factor there were more workers employed in 2018 than last year is the capacity imposed by the government on establishments to ensure the minimum health protocols are observed, which inevitably led establishments to lessen the number of their staff.
DTI-Cordillera Director Juliet Lucas said technology has also led to the downsizing of employees by some establishments.
“Because of the digital shift or the changing pattern of how consumers buy, labor now is more concentrated on the production side,” she said, adding the marketing aspect is now shifting to online.
Although techno-logy may have led to the downsizing of employees, Lucas said it has also created other forms of employment, like in the case of courier services that need delivery personnel.
Concerned agencies are also adjusting their strategies to help ensure the survival of the region’s MSMEs.
In this era of digitalization, the DTI also needs the aid of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
As the economy is becoming more data-driven, Lucas said they also need the PSA to guide them in coming up with innovations to further enhance the development of MSMEs through the PSA-generated data. – Jane B. Cadalig
