THE growth in the number of registered professionals exceeded 5% between 2010 and 2016, led by teachers, the largest contingent of workers required to pass board examinations, the labor department said.

LONDON Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to announce “substantial” job cuts in the thousands, a source told Reuters, as the company faces double-digit drops in demand in China and a slump in sales for diesel cars in Europe.

I’m the owner of a fast-growing restaurant business. We opened our third branch last year and we’re looking forward to having seven branches this year. That’s why we keep on hiring new workers from all sources just to fill the vacancies as demanded by each branch. Now, each branch is averaging more than 30 workers each, including the chefs, cashier, and branch head. And yet, our overhead expenses have also increased due to overtime payments made to people who are forced to work as many as 16 hours a day, which to me is impossible to do. I can’t understand what’s happening; no matter how we increase the number of workers for each branch, we still encounter excessive overtime work and other manpower-related expenses for each branch. Could you please tell us what’s wrong? -- Losing It.

THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will conduct a study seeking to rationalize the pay scale for construction workers to attract more people to the trade and increase the number of applications for its training programs.

A department manager went directly to our CEO to ask for forgiveness for his worker who was caught in an act of dishonesty, a grave offense. After being given due process, the worker was found to have violated company policy and a penalty of dismissal was handed down by the Human Resources and a Management Committee (Mancom) composed of other department managers. The CEO consulted the HR Head who advised him about the repercussions of a decision favoring the worker whose wife is suffering from cancer. Also, the Mancom was displeased to find that it spent much time deliberating the case only for the decision to be reversed. I am concerned that the incident will set a bad precedent. What can we do about it? -- Danny Dilemma.

THE labor department said the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) will remain the Philippines’ top job generator until 2022.

TOKYO -- It’s a rite of spring in Japan: Major corporations hire fresh university graduates en masse every April, starting them all at the same salary with assurances of rising pay and lifetime employment.

THE Technical Education and Skills Authority (TESDA) is preparing for greater automation in the workplace by conducting an inventory of employers next year to survey how extensively they have adopted new processes.

MONSTER.COM said online hiring activity rose 23% year-on-year in November led by the retail industry.

I’m a manager of a small manufacturing plant in Cavite. The managers’ regular work schedule is Monday to Friday. My problem is with our CEO who released a new policy requiring all managers to perform overtime work during Saturdays and holidays. All managers are assigned to work alternatively as factory officer-in-charge to supervise our two shifts -- 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The trouble is that we are not being paid any overtime premium or cash allowance as the CEO insists that our salary covers everything. He says the disturbance is not much as the manager’s schedule is rotated every six weeks. Despite this, many managers feel it’s not right to change the rules in the middle of the game. Could you please comment on this? -- Feeling Trapped.

THE Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) said it will assist beneficiaries of a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) program to find work, in accordance with a partnership signed between the DSWD and the BLE’s parent agency, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

LABOR Secretary Silvestre H. Bello said the department will continue to inspect labor conditions at firecracker manufacturers and pyrotechnic businesses despite his decision to suspend such inspections for the holidays.