THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday, July 17, 2022, called on the public sector to maintain calmness amid plans of the Marcos administration to implement rightsizing in the government.Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said in a statement that the employees in the public sector should not equate the rightsizing plan to massive job losses.“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 said.“When you talk of streamlining, it’s all about making work in a business easier and fruitful. I don’t see downsizing of workforce in those definitions,” he furthered.Last week, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman announced that at least 187 government agencies are set to undergo review as part of the government’s streamlining efforts.President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he is leaving it to the different agencies to determine how they would streamline their offices to generate savings for the government.Such a plan immediately triggered speculations of massive retrenchment among government workers.For its part, Laguesma said the DOLE will stick to its main mandate to promote the welfare of workers.“Whatever happens, DOLE would always champion the security and safety of our workers, whether they are government servants or employees of private institutions,” Laguesma said. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)