The economic boom of Asian countries like South Korea and Taiwan made recruitment of foreign workers including OFWs necessary. The increased labor demand is needed for the construction of major infrastructures and industrial projects.

Danilo P. Cruz, Acting Labor and Employment Secretary noted a report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), saying that Taiwan and South Korea remain one of the main destinations for Filipino factory workers. Other professions that are in-demand in Taiwan are Information technology (IT) professional and healthcare workers. On the other hand, Korea is in need of workers for their construction and shipbuilding industries.

Other Asian countries with job openings for foreign workers are Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Singapore is looking for hotel managers, supervisors, and skilled workers including croupiers, dealers, chambermaids, and waiters/waitresses.

Malaysia needs IT professionals and skilled workers for the construction, ship building and ship repair industries

In Brunei, there are openings for casino workers and entertainers at Genting Highlands Hotels and Resorts. Workers for industries of oil and gas, hotels and restaurants, and skilled and professional workers such as fabricators, riggers, high-pressure operators, managers, and engineers are also needed.

OFWs bound to Saudi Arabia are now obligated to submit their old passports to be granted a visa. This is a new requirement from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. For those without old passports, a certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs stating that that the passport issued to them is their first must be submitted.

This new rule covers all visa applicants except for household service workers like domestic helper, family driver, houseboy, babysitter, family dressmaker, family cook, and private nurse.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Philippines is located at:

389 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue Extension, Makati City
Telephone Number.890-9735
Fax Number: 895-3493 (Embassy), 890-9315 (Ambassador’s Office)

Mori International Agency Corporation in coordination with the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) will be conducting a provincial recruitment in Bacolod City on May 31, 2007.

The available jobs are:

For Canada: electrician construction and maintenance; metal structure fabricator; heavy duty mechanic; millwright construction; crane operator; pipe fitter; plumber; welder; iron worker; bricklayer; industrial electrician; concrete finisher; machine fitter; electrical mechanic; heavy duty equipment mechanic; and crane operator.

For Japan: performing artist.

For Kuwait and Saudi Arabia: operators for jamming, creaming & machine; manufacturing, mixing and packing; supervisor production, gardener, laborer, lead man mason; diesel mechanic, heavy equipment, petrol/gasoline & engineer. More operators for asphalt paver,  autocad, cargo machine helper, concrete plant, concrete pump, 10-ton crane, grader, paving machine, tower crane, water treatment plant assistant, wheel loader.

Interviews will be conducted at the PESO office, BBB Galo, City Health Compound.

A new immigration bill is currently in the US Senate for ratification. The skill based legislation is aimed to address the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. There are 3 million Filipinos in the US including TNT’s.

The new legistion will be skilled based. It would require job skills, advanced degrees, and proficiency in the English language to ensure that English remains the predominant language in the U.S.

Other key points for this bill are:

1. Insure entry to spouses and below-age 18 children of U.S. citizens; 
2. Limit the number of petitions of parents from 90,000 to 40,000 a year;  
3. Make it almost impossible for green card holders (permanent residents) and citizens to petition their adult children, as well as their brothers and sisters.

Many countries are realizing the need to recruit foreign workers because of the problem of labor shortage. In the light of the stiff competition from other labor-importing countries, the Taiwan government said that it would increase the salary of some OFWs there.

 According to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief, Rosalinda Baldoz, “Taiwan is set to increase the monthly wage of domestic helpers and factory workers. The current salary of USD 400 or Dh 1,469 will be raised to USD 700 or Dh 2,571.  

The higher salary to be offered made Taiwan a probable job destination for OFWs. Baldoz said, “We hope to get more jobs for workers in Taiwan, especially the high-end jobs.”

About 90,000 Filipino workers are currently working in Taiwan. Majority of the workers that make up this statistic are employed as factory workers.