With the recent increase in oil prices, organized labor is once amore calling for wage adjustments to enable workers and their families to cope with the rising prices of goods and commodities. Again and as before, employers and capital have raised the threat of job losses as wage increases would unduly threaten Philippines exports' competitiveness that has sustained it during the crisis just passed.
The main source of economic development is productivity, generated by surpluses and profits necessary for reinvestment and growth. In an environment of high growth, productivity becomes the requisite "driver" for competitive industries and a competitive economy in the new world order. This paper argues that in a period such as the East Asian economic crisis, productivity and industry efficiency are requisites for maintaining the growth of an enterprise and an economy, even when the resource inputs are scaled down.
