Feature: Overseas jobs fair caps the 3-day mega event in Cebu

Cebu, Philippines (15 June) -- More than 5000 to 6000 job seekers lined-up daily for the last three (3) days from June 12, 13 and 14 at the lobby of the 4th level of SM-Cebu leading to the Trade Hall 1 for the mega jobs fair initiated by the government as its Independence Day response to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis among the export industry workers, OFWs and the marginalized groups in the country.

More than 34,600 overseas jobs offered by 51 recruitment and placement agencies were up for grabs as the government caps its 3-day mega jobs fair event in Central Visayas today.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7)-Cebu Provincial Director Grace Diaz revealed that there were more than 1,500 qualified applicants that were interviewed for possible job placements abroad.

“These jobs are mostly available in the Middle East countries such as Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates; Canada, New Zealand, USA, the Caribbean Islands and Africa, Ms. Diaz said.

Diaz added that on the June 12 various government agencies in Central Visayas set up their mini recruitment offices at the SM-Trade Hall to open their job vacancies to the public.

One hundred forty-three (143) qualified applicants were hired on the spot for the various jobs at the DPWH, NEDA, DepEd, PNP and the BJMP in region 7.

Diaz went, there were 1089 job seekers that registered for that day but only 305 were qualified and interviewed. Majority of the applicants do not have CSC eligibility while those that qualified and were interviewed lacked some important documentation.

On the 2nd day of the jobs fair (June 13), the lobby of the SM-Trade Hall was literally bursting with job applicants for the private local employment.

Fifty (50) employers and companies joined the fair with about 2000 job orders or vacancies but only 123 qualified applicants were hired on the spot, Diaz added.

Most of those hired are engineers, administrative positions and production workers within Cebu and Negros oriental, DOLE-7 records showed.

Meanwhile, POEA-7 regional director Evelia Durato in an interview said, the mega jobs fair is an offshoot of the global financial crash and government has to do something to address the situation.

"We hope that these efforts will help those retrenched OFWs and other workers to find other jobs. We are closely and will continue to monitor especially those that qualified for overseas placements, we will assist them in any way we can and we will get to the bottom of it aron nga ma-hire gyud ni sila, Durato added.

She went on to say that there is an increasing trend in overseas jobs placements in central Visayas because there are more than 120 to 130 recruitment agencies here in region 7 that cater to overseas workers that want to establish their branches in Cebu.

Most of these agencies cater to OFWs in the Middle East, the number one destination of overseas workers in the region, according to Durato.

"It looks like the Middle East is not affected by the global financial meltdown because there are no retrenchments there, they continue to hire workers," Durato happily said. (PIA-7/MBCN)

Source: Minerva BC Newman PIA Information Services