RP ready to absorb laid off Pinoy workers from Taiwan - DOLE
MANILA, Philippines - Jobs would be awaiting more than 300 Filipino workers who were laid off in Taiwan, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) assured on Friday.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the unemployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could breathe a sigh of relief because the country is willing and able to absorb them should they return home.
"We can readily absorb them, mabibigyan kaagad natin ito ng trabaho (we can immediately give them jobs)," Roque said in a radio interview.
The laid off Filipino workers in Taiwan are the latest casualties in the US-led financial crisis slowly plaguing various economies in Asia.
While Roque admitted that the workers were hit by the crisis since they were employed in the export industry, he allayed fears that a massive lay-off would be the trend in other countries.
"We have not seen an abnormal trend. We still process an average of 2,800 contracts for outbound OFWs everyday. Compared to the same period last year, there is clearly an increase in overseas deployment," Roque said.
More OFWs would lose their jobs
Since various economies started feeling the brunt of the financial crisis in the middle of the year, fears arose that more than 1-million Filipino workers would lose their jobs.
Economists like Emmanuel Leyco, who had worked in a credit rating agency, predicted that the US recession would create a domino effect all over the globe and cause millions of OFWs to lose their jobs.
"In a global recession, immigrants are the first to go," Leyco told GMANews.TV in an interview last month.
Leyco explained that newly deployed OFWs would be the hardest hit by an economic meltdown because most businesses implement a "last in, first out" policy in their human resources management. He said foreign workers are also often seen as low-priority in employment retention.
The Labor Department has quelled such speculations and assured that unless the economic crisis severely affects top OFW destinations like the Middle East, that scenario is far from becoming a reality.
"I believe (that) would not happen," Roque said referring to reports that one million OFWs would lose their jobs.
Roque added that the country is prepared to absorb between 50,000 to 75,000 retrenched Filipinos overseas. The Labor chief owed the country’s capability to absorb laid off workers to the 200,000 to 225,000 increase in OFW deployment every month.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the unemployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could breathe a sigh of relief because the country is willing and able to absorb them should they return home.
"We can readily absorb them, mabibigyan kaagad natin ito ng trabaho (we can immediately give them jobs)," Roque said in a radio interview.
The laid off Filipino workers in Taiwan are the latest casualties in the US-led financial crisis slowly plaguing various economies in Asia.
While Roque admitted that the workers were hit by the crisis since they were employed in the export industry, he allayed fears that a massive lay-off would be the trend in other countries.
"We have not seen an abnormal trend. We still process an average of 2,800 contracts for outbound OFWs everyday. Compared to the same period last year, there is clearly an increase in overseas deployment," Roque said.
More OFWs would lose their jobs
Since various economies started feeling the brunt of the financial crisis in the middle of the year, fears arose that more than 1-million Filipino workers would lose their jobs.
Economists like Emmanuel Leyco, who had worked in a credit rating agency, predicted that the US recession would create a domino effect all over the globe and cause millions of OFWs to lose their jobs.
"In a global recession, immigrants are the first to go," Leyco told GMANews.TV in an interview last month.
Leyco explained that newly deployed OFWs would be the hardest hit by an economic meltdown because most businesses implement a "last in, first out" policy in their human resources management. He said foreign workers are also often seen as low-priority in employment retention.
The Labor Department has quelled such speculations and assured that unless the economic crisis severely affects top OFW destinations like the Middle East, that scenario is far from becoming a reality.
"I believe (that) would not happen," Roque said referring to reports that one million OFWs would lose their jobs.
Roque added that the country is prepared to absorb between 50,000 to 75,000 retrenched Filipinos overseas. The Labor chief owed the country’s capability to absorb laid off workers to the 200,000 to 225,000 increase in OFW deployment every month.
Comments