Sweden: Decent working conditions are the key to maintaining PHL’s socio-economic development
The Embassy of Sweden in Manila and Swedish companies operating locally recently promoted the inclusion of labor rights as a crucial part of promoting socio-economic development in the country.
At the forum “Sustainability Talks: The Right To Decent Work”, Atlas Copco, IKEA, Swedish Match and Transcom presented their current working practices in the Philippines. The Department of Labor and Employment and the International Labor Organization (ILO) emphasized the importance of educating Filipino workers.
Georg Platzer, head of IKEA Phils. which inaugurated its largest department store in the world in Manila in December 2021, attributes their success to the Swedish value of treating everyone equally important, and by treating employees with dignity and respect.
IKEA Phils. since the opening of the store has given regular contracts and paid holidays to store employees. It also provides parental leave: four months for mothers and four weeks for fathers. Decent treatment of workers also extends to their supply chain, ensuring factory workers have safe working conditions and fair wages.
Platzer emphasized that retailers rely on their employees to be “competent and confident” in the brand and products they sell. The practice of contractualization, he said, prevents workers from developing these, as retail workers are often moved to another store or brand before they could have specialized knowledge in their product category.
Meanwhile, Swedish Match has a factory in Laguna Technopark, which is one of their largest factories in the world and employs more than 300 workers. They belong to unions and can negotiate better compensation, healthcare and insurance. Through these consultations, employees understand that Swedish Match provides the best benefits the company can afford.
Transcom, a business process outsourcing and customer service company, has over 14,000 employees in Metro Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao. The company supports its employees’ professional growth and personal development through career paths, mentoring and skills enhancement programs. These are anchored in the company’s values ββand Malacca (empathy and responding to one’s needs).
It also champions equality and diversity by partnering with local authorities and NGOs on diversity and inclusion initiatives and through premises such as a single parent nursery and gender-neutral facilities.
Atlas Copco is an industrial company and a global leader in sustainable productivity solutions, present in 70 countries and operating in the Philippines since 1967. The embassy said it prioritizes the morale and livelihood of its workers during the pandemic. Specifically, by moving early to cloud computing, avoiding corporate downsizing and instead cutting back on non-compulsory benefits, it enabled it to keep all of its employees employed. This has led to the achievement of the company’s mission to consistently provide innovative solutions for the benefit of its customers.
Investing in the Pinoy workforce
ILO Country Director Khalid Hassan mentioned that the pandemic revealed underlying labor market issues in the Philippines: technological and demographic challenges, unemployment, gender disparities and climate change.
Hassan argued that due to challenges in developing and improving the manufacturing and agricultural industries, the country β as a service-oriented labor market β is missing its potential to create good and productive jobs in these areas.
According to him, the climate crisis will lead to the displacement of workers and result in the loss of almost 6 million jobs, but will be compensated by 24 million newly created ones. However, these jobs will require a higher level of education, so workers and employers should prepare for them through lifelong learning and skills development.
“The future of work is shaped by developing work institutions and infrastructure focused on people-centered policies, decent work and sustainability,” Hassan said. “If skills in these areas are taught to the workers, the Philippines can develop and be competitive and move forward in socio-economic development.”
Ambassador Annika Thunborg mentioned that strong labor movements, as well as collective agreements between employers and workers, have been crucial to achieving successful socio-economic development not only in Sweden but in other countries in Europe and the Nordics.
– The collective agreements have created decent working conditions and stable labor markets without strikes and unrest, which has been beneficial for employers, employees, companies and society, explained Thunborg.
Sweden is a leader in corporate social responsibility and sustainable business. Its embassy said Swedish companies are trusted to act in a sustainable and responsible manner by working for labor rights, the environment and anti-corruption initiatives.