Office landlords support back to work call

MANILA, Philippines — A multi-sectoral group of businesses, including office landlords such as Ayala Land Inc., SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld Corp. and Robinsons Land, is supporting government’s call for employees to return to work.

The Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) recently directed the outsourcing sector to start exclusively operating within Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza)-designated IT zones beginning April 1 this year. This means the sector is now required to fully transition to onsite office operations after March 31, ending a two-year allowance during this COVID-19 pandemic to keep 90 percent of IT-business process management (BPM) staff under WFH mode.

However, industry sources said some BPO employees do not want to return to office yet and have adjusted to the work-from-home setup.

But different businesses from various industries said the return-to-the-work place translates to economic activities not just for the BPO sector, but to related businesses, as well such as transport, retail, and dining.

In a position paper, different stakeholders backed the move of the government, the private sector and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to ask their employees to return to their places of work.

According to the group, the revival of business activity, particularly in central business districts is a key milestone toward the country’s journey to post-pandemic normalcy.

“We now look forward to heightened business activity, which will benefit the entire nation and spur its return to economic wellness. The path to recovery begins with the presence in the business and commercial centers of our country’s workers,” it said.

Among the most adversely affected by the predominant work-from-home set up in the past two years have been the micro medium and small enterprises (MMSEs), which  have retained only a fraction of the 5.38 million jobs nationwide and across all segments in 2020.

With the vaccination rate in Metro Manila now at 70.4 percent, and nationwide at 57.1 percent, and with new daily COVID-19 cases below 1,000, the multisectoral group welcomed the current alert level that allows unrestricted mobility and establishments to enjoy 100 percent full capacity.

“Economic momentum has been established and we are now within easier reach of the prosperity we all enjoyed in 2019,” the group said in its position paper.

“Fully occupied business districts and commercial centers indeed represent a welcome and collective milestone for the country,” said the group.

The position paper was signed by Ayala Land president Bernard Vincent Dy; Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association president Noel Carino; Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Henry Lim Bon Liong; Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines president Michael Guarin; presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion; Management Association of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual; Megaworld chief strategy officer Kevin Tan; Philippine Constructors Association Will Decena; Philippine Retailers Association president Rosemarie Ong; Philippine Chamber of Commerce president George Barcelon; Robinsons Land Corp. president Frederick Go and SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim.