EDI-Staffbuilders Across the Globe
by Paul Catiang

Over the course of 26 years, EDI-Staffbuilders has sent Filipino workers to almost every corner of the globe. To date, they have served—and continue to serve—the recruitment needs of the all Middle Eastern countries, as well as countries from the Asia-Pacific Region (Japan, Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia), South Asia (Sri Lanka and Pakistan), Africa (Nigeria, Angola, Egypt, and the Sudan), Europe (Germany and Russia), and North and South America (the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela).

The industries served in these countries are Oil, Gas and Energy; Telecommunications; Engineering and Construction; Banking, Finance and Insurance; Information Technology; Manufacturing; and Sales, Marketing and Distribution. Recently added to this roster is the growing hotel and service industry.

As with most international recruitment firms, the bulk of the candidates placed are sent to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Coast states. Engineers of every specialty, technicians, construction workers, and chemists find gainful employment in these countries as they have for the past few decades. With the advent of Saudization—the Kingdom’s initiative to give Saudi nationals priority in employment, especially in management and executive positions—the number of candidates going to the Middle East is slowly dropping.

In the case of EDI-Staffbuilders, the candidates sent to the Middle East in 2003 accounted for 90 per cent of their successful placements; in 2004, the percentage dropped to 60 per cent. In response to this development, EDI-Staffbuilders has stepped up its sales and marketing efforts to Middle Eastern countries other than Saudi Arabia, resulting in the opening of the Hotel and Restaurant market in Qatar.

Regardless of the shrinking market in the Middle East, it still provides a steady demand for Overseas Filipino Workers, and other destinations are gradually opening up to our migrant workers. The Asia-Pacific region is notable in this regard, especially Papua New Guinea.

Of the industries serviced by EDI-Staffbuilders, the Engineering and Telecommunications sectors account for around 50 per cent of the total dispatches in 2004. The Manufacturing and Financial Services groups and the Information Technology sector took 48 per cent and 2 per cent of the total dispatches in the same year, respectively.