European businesses calls for continuation of contractualization

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) has urged the new administration to adopt a more liberal Labor Code that will still allow the practice of contractualization. ECCP vice president Henry V. Schumacher said ending contractualization entirely will have repercussions, including the decline in employment. He warned that the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, will be affected as most of the industry’s workers are hired under contractual arrangements. Shumacher said it has to be assumed that if contractualization is totally banned, BPO companies will leave the Philippines. The industry currently employs more than one million people. European businesses in the Philippines are hopeful that the incoming government will also help ease the highly restrictive provisions on foreign ownership.