Some 15,000 job opportunities abroad are available to aspiring overseas Filipino workers at the virtual jobs fair on Independence Day, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said yesterday.
POEA chief Bernard Olalia urged Filipinos who are looking to work abroad, land-based or sea-based, to join the online jobs fair.
“There are 15,000 job offers, including factory workers, construction workers, waiters, cleaners, among others. For those who would like to be seafarers or to work on a ship, there are available slots for able seaman and messman,” he said on a Facebook video.
Those interested may visit http://onlineservices.poea.gov.ph/OnlineServices/POEAOnline.aspx .
Olalia said the number of vacancies/job orders was placed at 15,654, as of yesterday.
“You can choose your preferred job and agency, submit your digital or soft copy of your requirements and wait for the call of the agency regarding your scheduled interview,” he said.
Olalia also said they will recommend to the national government additional exemptions to the existing overseas deployment cap on healthcare workers.
“We have a recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. We are studying our recommendation for an increase in the deployment cap. Apart from the increase in cap, we also have a recommendation, if possible, expand the exemption for us to deploy more workers,” he said in a Laging Handa presser yesterday.
This as the country temporarily suspended the deployment of HCWs abroad after the 5,000-deployment cap was reached on June 1.
Currently, the deployment of nurses to the United Kingdom is allowed after the government granted its request to be exempted from the deployment limit.
Germany is also requesting for an exemption but this has yet to be acted upon by the government.
Also exempted are those covered by government-to-government hiring process.
Olalia, meanwhile, said they are conducting meetings with various agencies regarding the issue.
“We are part of the Technical Working Group, with the Department of Labor and Employment, Professional Regulation Commission, Department of Health, Commission on Higher Education; we are holding meetings, gathering data and we are working on it,” he added.
He said they may consider asking for an increase in the cap once the PRC allows the conduct of nursing board examinations this year.
The deployment cap was implemented to ensure that the country has a sufficient number of HCWs amid the coronavirus pandemic.*PNA
