ERSTWHILE The Manila Times columnist Teodoro “Doroy”
Valencia once served in the 1970s as head honcho for the outfit that saw to the
upkeep of Rizal Park. He had a quaint hiring policy: he tapped the services of
ex-convicts, those with criminal records that are unlikely to get themselves
either a job or a chance to show to all and sundry that they’re “going
straight.”
Ka Doroy reasoned that he wanted them to show to society
that they’re indeed reformed. And given gainful employment, they would seek
redemption, and take out the taint of incarceration through dint of honest
work, so he argued. It did make sense—and made a difference in the light of
current job hiring trends.
Such a hiring policy that the extant National Press Club
president—and he may now be doing a few turns in his final place of repose—set
in place and as example may cause human resource managers these days to writhe
and squirm in distaste. Distrust if not downright paranoia with a bit of the
ridiculous thrown in—these are codified into the requirements it takes for the
less skilled among Filipinos to land themselves a no-brainer menial job that
usually lasts for less than six months.
Before a hapless job applicant gets anywhere near a job,
several government agencies he has to obtain clearances from have cleared his
pockets of significant sums.
Recounts Rev. Fr. Shay Cullen in a recent column: “Roger, a
poor boy asked me to help him get a job as a janitor in a fast food restaurant.
He would be paid a minimum wage and allowed to have one meal a day. He just had
to mop the floor and clean the toilets for eight hours. But to get the job the
company demanded a bunch of documents. He had to have a high school diploma, a
health certificate, an x-ray, a birth certificate, two police clearance
certificates, a letter of recommendation, a mayor's work permit and money for a
uniform.
“For every document there is a fee to be paid, so the very
poor are excluded and can’t even get a job that needs little training as a
janitor.
“However, hundreds of thousands of youth are unemployed
because of these ridiculous and expensive requirements. When he got the job he
was fired (in less than) six months so as not to have him qualify as a regular
we employee and get additional health benefits. That's why hundreds of thousands
go jobless and hungry.”
So, we shower hallelujahs on our taipans and captains
of industry who have raked zillions of profits on the backs of casual or
temporarily hired manpower who toil for a pittance in five months, fired before
they can get past six months of employment that automatically turns them into
regular workers.
Thus, out-of-work casuals and temps will have to go through
the same gauntlet anew to secure clearances, documents and other ridiculous
requirements meant to keep their pockets light and their hearts heavy.
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