Leading Philippine corporations have been encouraged by the World Bank (WB) to make sure that their employees possess the managerial and digital skills needed to stop declining productivity, which could harm investments and economic growth.
However, this is not exclusive to the Philippines, according to Inquirer.net. The Washington-based lender claimed in its “East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) Economic Update” that the finest businesses in the region had been “falling behind productivity” in comparison to the best businesses in wealthier economies during the 2000s, particularly in the digital and electronics sectors.
For instance, according to the World Bank, the productivity of the best international companies operating in the digital manufacturing sector rose by 76% between 2005 and 2015, while the average improvement for companies located in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam was only 31%.
Given that companies in developed economies are usually the first to adopt new technology, the bank stated that reviving the top EAP firms is important for the growth of all companies in the future.
According to the World Bank, “the national frontier’s growth is slowing down more sharply in digitally intensive sectors—the same sectors where the best firms in rich countries are pulling away.”
The study pointed out that improved digital infrastructure and enhanced skills are necessary for both productivity growth and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
According to the lender, a mere 25% of laborers in Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam possess even the most basic digital abilities, such as the ability to “copy and paste” within a document.
In the meanwhile, employing new employees might be difficult for more than 50% of innovative businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam due to a lack of managerial and leadership abilities.
The World Bank advised economies in the area to encourage more competition among businesses in order to address the declining productivity.
