According to the Confederation of Wearable exporters of the Philippines (CWEP), around 30 percent of garment workers in the Philippines are expected to be sacked by year end because of the low demand triggered by a COVID 19 pandemic. In Philippines, garment factories work in downtime in compliance with security protocols. The capacity of these plants is expected to decrease by 40% in the third quarter, according to Executive Director Maritess Agoncillo.
Agoncillo says many factories repurposed their operations to manufacture medical-grade personal protective equipment in response to the government ‘s request to manufacture the PPEs locally and save jobs, to cope with sluggish demand. It had to compete with imports for factories which agreed to repurpose operations. Repurposing plan raised $35 million in investment and saved 7,450 jobs despite global economy weakening. Many factories have developed a rotational work base which allows employees to report for at least two weeks. However, the majority of factories continue to work, with 40 to 50% capacity. The Trade Organization concludes its study on the cost of transactions and their effect on transactions and productivity in the ‘new normal.’
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