President Marcos decided to extend the employment of contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers in the government set to expire this December.
The decision was made during a sectoral meeting at Malacañang with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Commission on Audit (COA) on Wednesday (April 24).
The President moved the deadline to December 31, 2025, instead of December 31, 2024, for the employment contracts of COS and JO workers.
The Chief Executive also instructed government agencies to focus on enhancing the skills of these employees by providing re-education, training opportunities, and support for civil service examinations.
President Marcos stressed the need for agencies to assess the current government workforce, including the prevalence of COS and JO positions. This analysis will offer insights into how these employment structures are being utilized.
“How many items are in their plantilla proper are not filled? How many are contractual as a percentage of the total number of employees? So, the most important thing is the percentages. Then we’ll also look at the average. It will give us an idea of how people are using the system,” he said.
COS refers to hiring someone as a consultant, learning service provider, or technical expert for a special project within a specific time frame.
JO, on the other hand, refers to piece work, intermittent, or emergency jobs that are short-term and for a specific task.
As of June 30, 2023, these workers accounted for almost 30 percent of the government workforce, showing an increase from 2022.
The top five national government agencies with the most COS and JO workers are Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).