The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) encouraged state workers not to be rattled by the government’s rightsizing plan on the bureaucracy as it may not actually mean downsizing the public labor force.

Taking a more positive understanding of the belt-tightening measure being pushed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said rightsizing also connotes simplifying office procedures.

Such can involve transfer of human resources from one office to another to make a system more effective, said Laguesma, who was a corporate executive until his appointment as Labor chief by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In the private sector where he came from, Laguesma said rightsizing means streamlining of processes and structural reforms.

“When you talk of streamlining, it’s all about making work in a business easier and fruitful. On the other hand, structural reforms imply changes to the way the government works. I don’t see downsizing of workforce in those definitions,” he said.

Laguesma called for calmness among public servants who fear of losing their jobs because of the DBM proposal since increasing the number of jobless Filipinos is not the goal of the government.

“Let’s be more positive with rightsizing where the possibility of transferring or even hiring of more people by a government with lots of tasks to perform is very high,” Laguesma added.

Pushed by the Department of Budget and Management last week, the rightsizing proposal triggered speculations of massive retrenchment among government workers, immediately drawing the ire of labor groups describing the plan as ill-timed and ill-motivated. DOLE Information and Publications Service