POEA raises cap on annual deployment of health care workers to 7,000

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has increased the ceiling on the annual overseas deployment of newly hired healthcare workers (HCWs) from the current 6,500 to 7,000. The increase on the deployment quota was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), allowing the deployment of newly hired HCWs per occupation as identified by the labor department as ‘mission-critical skills’. These include nurses, nursing aides, and nurse assistants. In an advisory, the POEA said that nurses with visas expiring on December 31, 2021 will be prioritized for deployment. Also, HCWs who were already issued with their corresponding overseas certificates (OEC) or exit clearance, are also allowed to depart for their overseas employment. Health care workers under government-to-government labor agreements and returning or Balik Manggagawa, meanwhile, are exempted to the said deployment ceiling. In November 2021, the POEA Governing Board has temporary suspended the processing and deployment of HCWs, as the annual deployment cap of 6,500 has been reached. The temporary deployment cap of HCWs was imposed by the Philippine government to ensure adequate number of medical workers in the country amidst the national public health emergency brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. ###

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