Ranks of Workers Abroad Seen to Swell by 8% in ‘05
by Ronnel W. Domingo

The number of Filipino workers deployed for jobs abroad is expected to increase by about 8 percent this year following a 9.6-percent surge in the first half, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

The government expects deployment to reach 1,006,496 this year. In 2004, 933,588 workers went abroad.

POEA data show that 541,291 workers were sent overseas from January to June, about 48,000 more than the 493,947 deployed in the first half of 2004.

Of the total, about four-fifths, or 420,759, were land-based workers. Some 264,625 were rehires.

Demand for new hires among land-based workers went up by a fifth to 156,107 jobs in the first six months.

According to labor officials, the increase was due to the quick replenishment of returning overseas Filipino workers by newly hired workers, as well as the continued preference of employers for Filipino workers.

In the first half, hiring of professionals went up 0.35 percent, while demand for service workers jumped by about 40 percent.

For professionals and technical workers, the jobs that opened were for nurses and health care assistants; computer programmers; teachers; chemical, civil, mining and electrical engineers; and professional music composers and singers.

At the same time, service-oriented jobs opened up for domestic helpers, household workers, caretakers, waiters and bartenders, cleaners, and cooks.

Top destinations for OFWs were the Middle East and Asian countries, with demand for Filipino workers going up by 12.5 percent and 14 percent respectively.

Some 193,000 OFWs went to the Middle East and about 155,000 went to the rest of Asia.

In other regions, Europe welcomed some 32,000 OFWs, which meant a decrease of 7.3 percent.

However, the Americas and the Trust Territories called in 6,426 and 4,579 OFWs respectively—an increase of 6.7 percent and 11.5 percent.

For the second half, opportunities continue to open up for OFWs, especially service workers bound for Hong Kong and Singapore, and production workers going to South Korea and Taiwan.

The agency added that the government-to-government hiring program under the Employment Permit System (EPS) of Korea is expected to boost OFW employment to that country.

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This article was originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on November 17, 2005, Business Section, pages B1-B2.
Reprinted with permission.