Landlords and business groups in Philippines want workers back in the office

Customers dine in a restaurant in Batangas City, Philippines. - Bloomberg

MANILA, March 21 (Bloomberg): Business groups and property companies in the Philippines are asking industries to bring their workers back to the office amid calls from outsourcing firms and their staff for more flexibility.

"The path to recovery, we aver, begins with the presence in the business and commercial centers of our country’s workers,” according to a statement signed by executives of Ayala Land Inc., Megaworld Corp., Robinsons Land Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. as well as business groups.

The statement comes as outsourcing companies are told to require their workforce to return to office by April 1 or risk losing their tax breaks.

Workers under the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines prefer a hybrid set up, the nation’s largest outsourcing group was quoted by local media as saying.

The government had denied their request to extend remote-work arrangements, as lower Covid-19 infections lead to looser mobility restrictions.

The tussle illustrates complications for companies bringing workers back to the office after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic forced a rethink of how work is done.

With vaccination rate in Metro Manila at 70% and nationwide at 57%, mall foot traffic has increased to as high as 63% of its pre-Covid figure and fast food traffic at 78%, according to the statement.

"We encourage the public to venture out of their homes,” the signatories said. - Bloomberg