US embassy organizes local jobs fair for Filipinos — DoLE

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment on Tuesday said that United States-based companies in the Philippines would gather next week for a three-day job fair, offer 6,600 local opportunities to job seekers, especially displaced overseas Filipino workers from Libya and other countries.

In a statement, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, citing a report from Undersecretary Danilo Cruz, said the United States embassy in Manila organized the three-day job fair, which will gather 33 American firms on March 18 to 20, 2011 at SM North Edsa, Quezon City.

“The three-day, US Embassy sponsored activity dubbed the 'America in 3-D Job Fair,' would prioritize qualified OFWs earlier evacuated from Libya,” Baldoz said.

Various American companies in the Philippines joining the fair will include those in banking-retail with 818 job opportunities and business process outsourcing and call centers offering the largest number of vacancies at 3,000, according to Baldoz.

Other US firms that will also offer jobs at the fair are those engaged in information technology, engineering, hotels, energy, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors, she said.

Positions to be offered will include card and bank sales officers, customer service representatives, BPO agent and non-agent positions, engineers, machinist, electricians, marketing staff, HR generalists, accountants, technical officers, IT specialists, and analysts.

“We highly appreciate the response of the American companies and mining firms in the country to this necessary and humane initiative led by DoLE which underscores the aim of President Aquino to ensure the protection and welfare of the OFWs,” Baldoz said.

“We shall ensure that these joint thrusts effectively ease the plight of the OFWs from Libya and their reintegration into economic mainstream,” she added.

Baldoz earlier also cited local industries especially the mining industry in Caraga region in Mindanao, for their support to the ongoing DoLE-led efforts to ease the plight of the OFW-repatriates from Libya.

The labor chief, during an earlier hearing at the House of Representatives committee on overseas workers affairs, also said that at any given time, there are some 60,000 vacancies posted by local and overseas companies in the PhilJobNet system supervised by the Bureau of Local Employment.

She said that skilled and qualified OFWs from Libya may access the PhilJobNet in the internet through the http://phil-job.net. She said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has also readied a skills assessment effort to fully assist the skills development, retooling, and upgrading needs of OFWs returning from the strife-torn country. (report from Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer)