About 30% of the Philippines garment workforce is expected to be furloughed until the end of the year due to weak demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, an industry group has said.

Factories have had to adhere to enhanced safety protocols, forcing them to work on marked downtime, according to the Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines.

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Local reports quote executive director Maritess Agoncillo, as saying: “We are trying our best to maintain status quo within the work force. Since capacity for third quarter is projected to be down at 40%, we expect around 20% to 30% of regular workers may be on furlough until end-year.”

In order to deal with sluggish demand and save jobs, some factories have repurposed their operations to produce medical-grade personal protective equipment, while others are working on a rotational basis so employees get at least two weeks’ worth of pay, according to the reports.

The repurposing programme is understood to have attracted US$35m in investments and saved upwards of 7,400 jobs to date, but the cost of operating in the ‘new normal’ has increased and factories have to complete with imports.

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Of the factories still operating, most are said to be functioning at 40% to 50% of their capacity.

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Unions in the country said in June that more than 20,000 workers in the textile, garment and leather goods sector have been laid-off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and callled for tripartite social partners to come up with a coherent and realistic recovery plan.