MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. moved the expiration of the employment of contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers in government from December 2024 to December 2025.

The decision was made during Marcos’ meeting with concerned government agencies on Thursday, April 25, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and state-run Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) said on social media.

“The goal is to build a pool of government workers that can perform and qualify for government’s plantilla positions,” the PCO, quoting the President, said in a press release.

This is not the first time that government contractual workers received extensions in their employment.

After the Duterte administration issued a circular outlining the rules governing the hiring of COS and JO workers in government until December 2018, it issued subsequent memoranda extending their transitional period of engagement to December 2022, then December 2024.

The move was meant to give government agencies the opportunity to “reassess their organizational and staffing requirements,” the PCO said.

COS workers are those who are engaged by the government as consultants, learning service providers or technical experts to undertake a special project or job within a specific period.

JO workers, meanwhile, undertake emergency or intermittent jobs for a short period of time.

The PCO said 832,812 government employees are COS and JO workers, accounting for 29% of the total.

It added that agencies with the most number of COS and JO employees are the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources. – Rappler.com