LESSON 5 – LABOR, EMPLOYMENT AND FUTURE OF WORK

ECONOMICS OF LABOR MARKETS

 Labor – more of economic term for “work”. Productivity. Number of hours we spend.
And the output. Also considered as factor of production.
 Work – psychosocial connotations. “what is meaningful work?”
 Labor as a:
1. Good or service
2. Commodity
- Polanyi, “kapag tinuring natin na commodity ang labor then iisipin din natin na it
is something na pwedeng i-exchange or ibenta.”
- If we follow market fundamentalist perspective, we see labor as a commodity.
Kaya okay lang na magpadala ng mga manggagawa sa ibang bansa, at i-maximize
ng mga workers yung hours of work nila.
- Dahil dito, naaabuso ang mga workers at mayroong room for exploitation.
3. Vocation
- If we see labor as a vocation, magbabago ‘yung perspective natin sa productivity
and treating our workers.
- Dito pumapasok ‘yung decommodifying and democratizing work.
- Ganito dapat natin tinitignan ‘yung work. It is something that you enjoy and allows
you to maximize your talents. It should be something that you take pride of.
 Varying productivity (produkto ng trabahong ginagawa)
1. Physical capital
2. Human capital
3. Technological knowledge
 Varying wages:
1. Compensating differentials
2. Human capital
3. Education as a signal kung ano yung kakayanan mo.
4. Ability, effort, and chance
5. Beauty and pleasing personality
6. Superstar phenomenon or niche jobs
7. Presence of above equilibrium wages
8. Discrimination
 Unemployment – are they simple people without work? Individuals without work for a
certain period (4 weeks or more), not paid or self-employed; available for work; seeking
work
 Types of unemployment:
1. Frictional – usual phases of unemployment
2. Structural – change in the structure kaya need alisin sa trabaho
3. Cyclical - seasonal
 Government goal: full employment – a significant portion of the population are securely
employed and earning income.
 Essential work – na-highlight noong pandemya. Sila yung mga workers na handang i-
alay ang kanilang kasulugan in order to keep the economy working. Ex. Healthcare
professionals at frontline workers tulad ng food delivery drivers at cashiers sa mga
groceries.
 Policy options:
1. Increase the minimum wage
2. Establish a universal basic income per household – kailangan maghanap kung saan
kukuha ng pera
3. Introduce other social safety nets
 4. Invest more on SMSEs/BMBEs
5. Status quo
 In theory, maganda i-increase ang wealth tax, pero in reality, napakahirap noon.
1. Kung i-tatax mo sila sa kanilang income, pwede itong i-forge ng mga accountants o
kaya ay hindi nila kukuhanin yung income nila pero marami silang stocks.
2. Kung itatax naman sila sa wealth, i-tatax yung income, properties, at estate. Ang kaso
mahirap i-measure ‘yung wealth nila. imposible na walang silang offshore accounts.
Hindi lahat ng wealth nila ay ilalagay nila dito sa Pilipinas.
3. Okay sana na i-tax sila sa kanilang consumption or luxury tax pero madali lang sa
kanila na pumunta sa ibang bansa at doon mamili ng luxury items. Ang kawawa
kapag tinax ang consumption ay ang mga middle income na gusto lang naman i-enjoy
‘yung mga luxury items.
EMERGING FUTURE OF WORK
 JM Keynes: “What can we reasonably expect the level of our economic life to be a
hundred years hence?” from What are the Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren?
Essay (1930)
 Technological unemployment - unemployment due to the discovery of means of
economizing labor out running the pace at which we can find new uses for labor (Keynes,
1930).
a. A temporary maladjustment, can be resolved
b. Can be a “good” problem because “mankind is solving its economic problem” (i.e.,
struggle for subsistence)
c. What happens when the economic problem is solved? Benefit or cost? Consider
“leisure.”
d. Examine our work today. Did “technological unemployment” happen?
END OF WORK?
 Jeremy Rifkin = spread of ICTs and the progress of automation would boost overall
productivity and profits in global corporations while reducing unemployment
 Work has been “dematerialized” = involves less physical work and more about
controlling machines
 Manuel Castells = duality of the labor market between “information managers” and “the
disposable workforce”
 Primary labor market = attractive jobs with formal education and high qualifications,
protected legally (what exactly are these?)
 Secondary labor market = less attractive, minimal qualifications, “gig economy,”
unregulated with minimal institutional protection (consider types of work today)
FUTURE OF WORK
 Osborne and Frey, BBC Crystal Ball of 2013: 47% of jobs will be automated (US
employment records) vs OECD in 2016 saying it stands at 9% (21 member states) vs
McKinsey says only 5% might disappear completely (750 professions)
 Automation of work = for predictable, routinary and repetitive physical and cognitive
activities
 Empathy-based/ pink collar jobs = not automated, but also not paid well
 How fast will work disruption occur? THE PACE VARIES per sector, per activity, per
economy // PwC says it depends on the structure of the economy.
 Quickest rate of automation for INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIES = labor market is rigid,
next is SERVICE ECONOMIES = especially those with relatively unqualified, unskilled
employees. While automation occurs slower in KNOWLEDGE ECONOMIES, those
with highly trained human capital.
LEVELS OF AUTOMATION
1. ALGORITHMIC = automation of simple computational and analytical tasks where there
are large pools of structured data, i.e., finance and insurance
- Tinignan yung klase ng trabaho na paulit-ulit, simple, at mayroon nang structured
data. For instance, bank tellers at cashiers ay pwede na i-automate kasi repetitive
na yung task. Simple lang yung computational needs doon sa tasks.
2. AUGMENTATION = automation of repetitive tasks; based on intelligent algorithms and
will evolve towards cognitive automation
- Dito pumapasok ‘yung mga secretarial jobs at smart factories. Madaming
nawawalan ng trabaho kasi yung mga jobs ay kayang gawin ng robots at nagiging
trabaho ng mga tao ay gaano ka-efficient yung robots in doing the job that they
were doing before.
3. AUTONOMOUS = intelligent automation of physical work, of real-time problem solving
in ever-changing environments
- Dito pumapasok ‘yung experiments on driverless cars. Sa ibang country like in
Australia, may driverless trains na. Mas higher level ang thinking dito.
- Dito rin pumapasok yung AI
 Other factors for pace of automation: legal regulations, institutional environment,
profitability of rolling out technologies, skills available in local and global labor markets
 Ang pinapaliwanag lang dito ay nagsisimula tayo sa mga trabaho na hindi tayo masyado
nag-iisip like plaid out na ang computations at structured na yung data up until
pagkakaroon ng autonomous automation. Autonomous means unstructured yung data
pero kaya na natin siyang i-automate.
GIG WORK – separated tasks performed on demand outside the workplace, on the equipment
provided by the worker
CHALLENGES
 Gig work remains SKILL-BASED. The opportunities offered are more successfully
exploited by those with unique and highly-valued competencies (e.g. grab driver vs
freelance graphig designer)
 Income remains UNSTABLE
 What should be transitory becomes PRIMARY work for underemployed workers
 Platforms are filled with ASYMMETRICAL INFO – hindi alam ng workers kung paano
gingrade-an ang sahod nila. What they just know ay meron silang PERFORMANCE
MATRIX.
 It is PRECARIOUS and HARD TO REGULATE.
 Precarious meaning insecure yung trabaho. Hindi lang siya basta nawawala kundi
hindi rin stable yung income at hindi rin sure ang safety net for you. Kasi it’s a new
field, you don’t know exactly how to protect these people and they are also very
prone to exploitation.
 Ang danger ng precarity ay hindi natin ma-ensure yung mas maayos na living
conditions for the people. Balewala yung economic goals for development.
 “from a Southern perspective work has always-already been precarious, a basic fact
which unsettles the notion that something new has been discovered.” -Ronaldo
Munck
DESIGNING SOCIAL SOLUTIONS TO THE FUTURE OF WORK
 Consider its impact on economic development and on government financing to ensure an
equitable and inclusive future for our societies.
RESOLVING CHALLENGES
  Invisible jobs, essential workers, profession vs exploitation?A
 Employer-employee relationships; wages and worker benefits; unionizing
 Unbundling employment for more flexibility
 New model for employment relations should not distinguish between traditional and
digital forms of employment (consider UBI)
 Wearables and insertablesas means to measure productivity in work?
 Upskilling and developing skills for the future
ADDITIONAL NOTES

FOODPANDA RIDERS ISSUE

 But it stressed that “when conflicting interests of labor and capital are to be weighed on
the scales of social justice, the heavier influence of the latter should be counterbalanced
with the sympathy and compassion the law accords the less privileged workingman.”
 “In the still raging war against COVID-19, we take judicial notice of the fact that food
delivery riders have repeatedly been alluded to as heroes for enabling us to abide by
physical distancing and other health protocols, while, at the same time, bolstering the
economy. Nevertheless, while they have been hailed as heroes, they have not been always
treated as such,” the ruling stated.
 “As heroes, they should, at the very least, be able to demand minimum labor standard
benefits, e.g. minimum wage, service incentive leave, right to organize and collective
bargain, and security of tenure provided under Philippine laws,” it added.
DEMOCRATIZE, DECOMMODIFY WORK
 Decommodifying work means preserving certain sectors from the laws of the so-called
“free market;” it also means ensuring that all people have access to work and the dignity
it brings
 A Job Guarantee would not only offer each person access to work that allows them to live
with dignity, it would also provide a crucial boost to our collective capability to meet
the many pressing social and environmental challenges we currently face.
 Let us fool ourselves no longer: left to their own devices, most capital investors will not
care for the dignity of labor investors; nor will they lead the fight against
environmental catastrophe. Another option is available. Democratize firms;
decommodify work; stop treating human beings as resources so that we can focus
together on sustaining life on this planet.

STRIKES
 These inspiring acts of mass solidarity show us what can happen when workers come
together to demand fair conditions and an end to the oppression of themselves and
others.
 a strike is a planned work stoppage that occurs when the members of a union collectively
agree to refuse to work until their demands are met. This usually happens after contract
negotiations with management have broken down and a majority of members have voted
to authorize the strike,
 Historically, companies whose workers are on strike have hired outside workers — also
known as “strikebreakers” or “scabs” — to take their places, and have
sometimes resorted to violence to break strikes
  If workers call a strike, and one of their coworkers crosses that line and goes to work
anyway, they’ve harmed their union’s ability to negotiate with the employer,
thereby weakening the group’s own collective power.
 Instead, stand with striking workers, amplify their demands, donate to strike funds when
you can, and never cross a picket line!
NO THANKS TO PROMOTION
 Mas gusto n nila ngayon ng freedom, flexibility, at autonomy
 Remote work because of pandemic:
a. Time savings due to less commuting (48 percent)
b. Better work-life balance (43 percent)
c. Flexible work schedule (43 percent)
d. Saving money (40 percent)
GIG WORK
 Overcoming the challenges found in the gig economy should engage in more active
forms of resistance and anchored on the fact that gig is work and it deserves dignity.
 GIGS — “short-term, on-demand, occasional, and typically task-based labour.
 They say we need to harness the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and
digitalization to boost our employment and live more prosperous lives.
 Our main selling point is the much-coveted Pinoy competitive advantage: we offer cheap
labor; we have good command of the English language, bonus points for a neutral/
native-sounding accent; and our ever-reliable hardworking ethic.
CHALLENGES OF GIG WORKS
1. experiences of underpaid and overworked laborers.
2. A gig worker is expected to shoulder overhead costs
3. Performance metrics and algorithmic control determine their compensation, the
additional benefits they may receive, and their continued engagement with a network of
clients.
4. they have limited opportunities for organization and are not entitled to labor protection.
5. does not necessarily offer professional growth for an individual.

 Precarity - persistent in the gig economy is nothing new for it is a reiteration of long-
standing practices such as casualization, contractualization, flexibilization, and
outsourcing, made more common by increasing globalization and the advancement of
technology.
- It is more insidious when placed in the context of developing economies and the
employment challenges that plague them.
TWO CATEGORIES OF GIG ECONOMY
1. crowdsourced microworker completes microtasks obtained from job portals or digital
platforms.
- Their piecemeal work is paid by the hour, or the type of output completed and the
whole engagement begins and ends within the platform
2. worker-on-demand - assigned tasks in a digital labor platform, where they are paired
with clients who would secure their specific service. They complete their tasks physically
within a given timeframe and only then will they be paid.
- Such circumstances make gig work more precarious and prone to exploitation,
especially when placed in a society where the labor force have either lower skills or
are consistently dumbed down by the global economy to fit their demand.
  Such experiences note that we could understand the contours of abuse perpetuated by
the gig economy, but we’re not as enticed or motivated to fight the proverbial hand
that feeds us now.
GUARANTEED MINIMUM INCOME VS UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
UBI - government provides every citizen with a lump sum of income every year, no
strings attached.”
GI - argues for providing cash payments to specific, targeted communities of
people with the express goal of addressing income inequality.
- focuses on people living below the poverty line or with inconsistent or no income,
and it serves as a built-in income floor for those without one.
DANGERS OF UBI
1. could release employers of any responsibility to pay fair wages. A company might even
feel justified in underpaying its employees under the assumption that a UBI would make
up for the difference
2. a capitalist might see UBI policies as a cure-all for income inequality that lets them avoid
institutional accountability for creating that inequality in the first place.
HOW ABOUT GI
 like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust are aimed at deliberately reaching and supporting
already economically disenfranchised communities
 policies like G.I. are intended to address and correct inequality with direct, material
solutions to immediate financial need.
 unrestricted economic support to focus on addressing income inequality, most pointedly
along racial and gender lines.
 But unlike UBI, most programs have some kind of income cap, living condition,
demographic, or family status qualification to prevent people without those needs from
receiving direct cash support.
 Because Black and brown people, and more specifically, women of color, are
disproportionately represented at the lower end of the economic spectrum, they’d stand to
benefit the most from any kind of cash advance policy, but a targeted program might
allow the economic benefits to stretch even further
 a guaranteed minimum income would ultimately elevate the class status of those more
economically vulnerable, thus allowing them to better participate in and contribute to the
economy- and more importantly, lead lives with dignity without having to worry about
meeting their everyday needs.
RESEARCH IN LABOR AND EMPLOYEMENT IN PH SETTING
1. PINOY WORKERS PRODUCTIVITY INCREASING BUT REAL WAGES
FALLING
 The gains from growing productivity are not going to workers as higher wages but to
the profits of corporations and the wealth of the super-rich
 giving workers their fair share through decent wages will uplift their lives and also
spur economic progress.
 Wages have not kept up with inflation where the consumer price index increased by
35.3% from 85 in 2012 to 115 in 2022 (2018=100).
 wages lagging behind labor productivity implies that the benefits from economic
activity are disproportionately going to corporate profits.
  it is high time for the country’s’ lawmakers to legislate a minimum wage hike that
will raise the ADBP to approximate the family living wage. This will stimulate the
economy because wage hikes have stronger demand multiplier effects than profit
hikes.
BENEFITS IF THERE IS A HIKE IN WAGES
 low-income worker families receiving additional wages will more likely spend this
than save it because their consumption of basic and immediate needs is at such low
levels.
 this is more likely to be spent locally and in communities which will help spur local
economic activity.
 much of this additional income will likely be spent on food which will spur food
production in the countryside.

2. GROWING CLAMOR FOR WAGE HIKE ECHOES URGENCY, JUSTNESS AND

DOABILITY
 the minimum wage has not been enough for many Filipino families to live decently.
 The group added that raising wages will not only benefit workers and their families but
the economy as well.
 Raising the minimum wage is urgent because the current nominal minimum wage of
Filipino workers is unable to keep up with the rising cost of living.
 the Marcos Jr administration can support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
to help them provide higher wages to their workers.
 wage subsidies for micro and small establishments that would cover the total cost of the
proposed wage hike for one year – Php64.6 billion for micro and Php159.8 billion for
small enterprises.
 Government can also raise revenues for wage subsidies by, for example, taxing the super-
rich – a wealth tax on 2,495 billionaires can contribute Php469 billion
 having the political will to ensure that big corporations are transparent about their
earnings and contribute a portion of this to wage increases, as well as to impose a tax on
the richest.

3. 1.8-MILLION LOSS IN FULL-TIME JOBS DISPELS GOV’T CLAIM OF

RECOVERY, ROBUST JOBS MARKET – IBON
 declines in the number of employed and labor force participants likely indicate growing
numbers of discouraged workers
 the problem of too much work in the economy being informal and irregular.
 The biggest decreases were in agriculture, which significantly fell by 1.2 million to 10.5
million
 INFORMAL WORK is made up of the self-employed, those employed in small family
farms or businesses, domestic help, and unpaid family workers.
 The group said that the government should unleash its considerable funds and resources
to ensure immediate relief measures such as ayuda, wage subsidies and support to small
businesses and producers.