EDITORIAL - Focus on job generation

While populist politicians fall all over themselves to compel employers big and small to pay wages as high as the politicians’ imagination can take the amounts, national and local government officials should do more to generate meaningful jobs.

This will require creating an environment that is conducive to business. Before wages are paid, the jobs must be created. And the entrepreneurs are the ones who create these jobs.

Despite the passage of two laws cutting red tape and promoting ease of doing business, the country continues to slide behind its neighbors in attracting foreign direct investments that create meaningful jobs. Those doing business in this country, from micro to the biggest enterprises, continue to complain about red tape, onerous and redundant fees as well as confusing business rules, starting from the barangays and local governments all the way to national government agencies. Corruption at all levels of government has also driven away investments.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are already threatening many jobs across numerous industries. The government and private sector must work together in intensifying upskilling for those whose jobs are at stake, particularly in business process outsourcing and manufacturing.

To all these woes, the government cannot add whimsical wage fixing by populist lawmakers. There is a tripartite mechanism prescribed by law for wage setting, with politicians out of the picture. The mechanism has helped in the difficult balancing act between the needs of workers and employers.

Business success depends heavily on the capability and productivity of the workforce. Any sensible entrepreneur knows enough to keep employees happy not just through decent compensation but also by providing a proper workplace environment.

As the country’s biggest business groups have pointed out, small enterprises account for more than 90 percent of businesses nationwide. And these small enterprises are highly vulnerable to wage requirements. Their conditions and capacity to pay cannot be ignored by lawmakers who want to control wage fixing, just as they control so many aspects of life in these country involving other people’s money.