OFWs in Hungary safe from layoffs amid COVID-19 pandemic, says foreign minister

Published October 16, 2020 1:07am By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR/ While many countries and industries around the world grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, Hungary’s top diplomat on Thursday said Filipinos in the Central European state have not been affected by massive layoffs, citing their significant contribution to the Hungarian economy. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who was on one-day visit to Manila, said there are around 400 Filipino workers employed in the service and engineering sectors in the country. “I have no information of them there having any kind of problem,” Szijjarto told GMA News in a one on one interview. “We have no issues with workers from the Philippines to be fired from their jobs.” Szijjarto, the first senior foreign government official to hold a bilateral meeting with Philippine counterpart Teodoro Locsin nearly eight months since Manila imposed travel restrictions and lockdowns, said Hungary was able to cushion the impact of the pandemic on its labor sector due to its strong support for its companies. “In August there were many more people having jobs than in January. From workforce perspective the Hungarian economy is on the right way to recover,” he said. “I know Filipino people are very diligent, they follow the regulations, they respect the rules and the way they live there. I think it is important that we both represent the Christian culture and having the common cultural ground makes it easier to adjust to each other,” he said. At the height of coronavirus onslaught in February 2020, more than 213,000 Filipino workers overseas have returned home after losing their jobs. Of this figure, 33.65% are seafarers and 66.35% are land-based workers. The Philippines is one of the world's largest exporter of labor in the world with about 10 million workers employed mostly as housemaids, construction laborers, engineers, IT workers, and medical personnel. They are called "modern-day heroes" for the often-meager earnings they send home that, collectively, keep the Philippine economy afloat and local business booming. -NB, GMA News

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