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The recent Guam Trade Mission conference which was held at the Renaissance Hotel has not only managed to entice more Filipino entrepreneurs to invest in Guam but have also brought good news of opportunities for jobs as well.

This is because of some 40,000 US military personnel, dependents and civilian workers will be transferred to the island over a five-year period. Guam Gov. Felix Camacho said before the conference that initially, some 8,000 US military personnel and their 9,000 dependents on Guam from Okinawa starting 2010.

He said Japan and US are seen to spend close to $15 billion over a five-year period to fund the relocation of the military personnel. Because of the buildup, they will require construction and improvement of the island’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, housing, hospitals and recreational facilities.

“The bottom line is we would need 12,000 to 15,000 additional workers on Guam just to support the military buildup,” Camacho said. More manpower is needed for the private-sector initiatives and independent estimates see a total requirement of 25,000 workers.

This would mean employment opportunities for skilled construction workers. But aside from them, nurses, occupations therapist, physicians, engineers, architects and other job opportunities in different fields are also open to Filipinos.

And to add to this good news is that Guam has been exempted from the US-wide quotas for immigration or “H” visas to support the military buildup.

Camacho said that starting November 2009, Guam will be exempted from the US quotas for “H” or working visas, to allow the island to bring in as many “temporary workers” as needed to fill manpower requirements of Guam and American companies necessary to sustain the military buildup.

However he stressed that, “but being temporary workers, they will be required to return home to the Philippines after their contracts are up.” The exemption from the immigration quota for seasonal workers is not exclusive to Filipinos, but to all nationalities and this will last until December 31, 2014.