More jobs in the US this year – POEA
Posted on January 2nd, 2010
New report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said there will be a demand for more workers in the construction and oil industries in the United States this year. Hans Leo Cacdac, POEA deputy administrator said that the US government is opening its doors once again to foreign workers. More than a year after the onset of the global economic crisis.
Cacdac said, “The US economy is slowly recovering, which is good news for us because that means they are ready to open employment for foreign workers.” He added that aside from US, employment opportunities from other countries are brighter this year.
“We are looking at recovery for overseas jobs, including in the United States, where we see positive employment growth this year,” he said.
POEA director Stella Banawis added that a higher demand for OFWs in traditional markets like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, including other Asian countries like Malaysia and Brunei is also seen this year. “We have 13,000 job orders for nurses as well as seasonal workers in US last year, some of them vacancies that have yet to be filled and we can use them for 2010,” she said.
POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili said they will continue to look for additional markets for the more than a million Filipino workers this year.
Recruitment industry leaders, on the other hand, are calling for the holding of an overseas employment summit to address the shortage of qualified workers. Recruitment official Lito Soriano said, “We should be addressing the manpower shortage so we could be ready for the economic rebound of the US and other countries.”
Meanwhile, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Marianito Roque is projecting an additional 5,000 jobs in the animation industry and approximately 15,000 more in the call centers this year. “Call centers are now operating outside Metro Manila like in Cebu, Baguio and Davao which means hiring of more people in the provinces,” Roque said.
