MANILA, June 11 (PNA) — Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz on Thursday said that more than 131,000 jobs will be available for job seekers in at least 10 regions in the country as the DOLE regional offices mount their respective 2015 Kalayaan Day Job Fairs on Friday.
The 10 regional offices that have reported their Kalayaan Day Job fairs are those in the National Capital Region (NCR), Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and SOCCSKSARGEN (provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City).
“These are more than half of the nationwide job fairs that will be conducted simultaneously as the country celebrates its 117th Araw ng Kalayaan,” said Baldoz.
She said said the Job Fairs serve as DOLE’s contribution to the meaningful observance of the Araw ng Kalayaan.
“These job vacancies will serve as the ticket to better lives and brighter future of numerous job seekers. Through this job facilitation activities, we give profound meaning to the spirit of the Araw ng Kalayaan. Providing job opportunities, thus, becomes a way of liberating the Filipinos from the clutches of poverty,” Baldoz said.
In the NCR alone, some 51,500 job vacancies, courtesy of 93 employers, will be available in the Araw ng Kalayaan Job Fair at Rizal Park which will be spearheaded by DOLE-NCR Director Alex V. Avila.
In the Ilocos, Regional Director Grace Ursua announced that in La Union, at least 1,373 vacancies are available for jobseekers, while in Pangasinan, over 2,000 jobs will be up for grabs at the Manna Mall in San Fernando City and Nepo Mall in Dagupan City, respectively.
Director Ursua bared that 13 local employers and four licensed recruitment agencies will join the June 12 job fairs in the region. The available local jobs in the Ilocos job fairs are for customer and technical service representatives, accountants and account analysts, managers, supervisors, marketing personnel, hotel workers, engineers, electricians, cashiers, skilled and non-skilled workers and others. Among the top overseas jobs are teachers, nurses and allied professions, technicians, plumbers, architects, engineers, welders, carpenters, painters and other skilled positions.
In the Cordillera, 1,196 local jobs will be offered to jobseekers in the Araw ng Kalayaan Job Fair at the University of the Cordilleras.
DOLE CAR Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena disclosed that top job vacancies are for customer service representatives, call center agents, technical support representatives, cashiers, merchandisers, baggers, real estate consultants, sales clerks, porters/delivery helpers, and stock clerks.
In Cagayan Valley, the job fair will be held at the 3rd floor, Mall of the Valley in Tuguegarao, Cagayan in partnership with the local government unit of Tuguegarao City, said Regional Director Atty. Sixto T. Rodriguez, Jr., who bared that 845 vacancies will be offered by 33 participating establishments, while 450 overseas employment vacancies will be offered by seven participating recruitment agencies.
In Central Luzon Region, some 15,945 jobs await jobseekers in the Independence Day Job and Livelihood Fairs to be held in Bulacan and in Zambales on 12 and 18 June, respectively, DOLE Regional Director Atty. Ana Dione reported. She said that of the total job vacancies solicited, around 10,945 will be available for local employment from 92 participating companies from various industries. The regional office expects around 5,000 job vacancies for overseas employment from 30 recruitment agencies, as processed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Job vacancies in Central Luzon for local employment include production engineering associates, production operators, customer/technical support representatives, inbound sales representatives, call center agents, welders, sewers, medical transcriptionists, sales clerks, office clerks, machine operators, and service workers.
Overseas employment vacancies, on the other hand include production workers, engineers, architects, administrative assistants, cooks, waiters, waitresses, construction workers, and plumbers.
The DOLE in Western Visayas will offer around 14,642 local and overseas jobs in job fairs to be held at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Iloilo, and at the activity center of The District North Point-Ayala Mall in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
Regional Director Ponciano M. Ligutom said that aside from the job fairs, the members of the DOLE-Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) will set up help desks in the job fair venues to extend assistance to employers and employees as well as the kasambahays who have labor-related concerns.
In Iloilo, around 8,235 vacancies will be made available by 29 participating local companies and overseas recruitment agencies, while in Negros Occidental, about 6,407 vacancies were declared by 32 local companies and overseas recruitment agencies.
For local jobs, the cyber services, or the business process outsourcing sector, remain the top employment generator in Region 6 with 1,438 or 35 per cent of the total vacancies followed by construction industry with 1,220, or 30 per cent of the total vacancies posted. The remaining 1,369 are being shared by various companies in the service sector.
On the other hand, for overseas jobs, around 50 per cent of the total vacancies posted are in social and personal services followed by construction industry as well as hotels and restaurants, health, and education service sector.
In Central Visayas, meanwhile, employers both local and abroad will present a big number of job vacancies, totaling initially to 16,953, and which will be available to participating job seekers in the Kalayaan Day Job Fair in Cebu City Sports Center.
According to Regional Director Exequiel R. Sarcauga, jobseekers can choose from an array of job vacancies from 64 participating companies, 54 of which are local and 10 are overseas-based.
“There are 5,054 local job vacancies registered and 11,899 overseas job vacancies awaiting the jobseekers,” Sarcauga added.
The DOLE Central Visayas has also identified top positions needed overseas which are as follows: factory workers; hotel and restaurant service crew; laborers; carpenters; nurses; pipefitters; electricians; welders; steel fabricators; construction workers; scaffolders; plumbers; drivers; engineers; mason helpers; steel fixers; programmers; riggers; and mill wright fitters.
Meanwhile, in Northern Mindanao, Regional Director Raymundo Agravante said that 15 local companies and 12 overseas manpower agencies have confirmed their participation in their Kalayaan Job Fair at Iligan City Public Plaza, with around 150 available locally-based jobs such as engineers, supervisors, quality control analyst, safety officers, service crew, clerks, teachers, accountants, and call center representatives.
From the licensed overseas agencies, job vacancies include 600 openings for factory workers, medical and paramedical workers, construction workers (skilled and semi- skilled), hotel and restaurant workers, teachers, and domestic helpers, to name a few.
The turn- over of Job Search Kiosks, to be led by Director Agravante, to the local government unit of Iligan City through acting City Mayor Ruderic C. Marzo, and the Committee Chairman on Labor and Employment and acting Vice Mayor Attorney Providencio A. Abragan Jr., will also highlight the DOLE Northern Mindanao Kalayaan Job Fair.
In Davao, Regional Director Joffrey M. Suyao said the regional office is conducting its Kalayaan Jobs Fair at the NCCC Mall in Matina, Davao City, where a total of 15,755 job vacancies from the 79 participating employers will be available to interested applicants.
The top jobs in Davao for overseas employment are nurses, salesmen for food and non-food establishments, customer service, security guards, factory workers, sales associates, masons, elderly care attendant, carpenters, and manicurists.
For local employment, the leading job vacancies are the call center agents, customer service representatives, technical support representatives, sales personnel, cable linemen/ splicers, sales consultants, drivers/installers, operations supervisors, marketing officers, and helpers.
In Region 12, DOLE regional director Ofelia Domingo said she expects to have at least 3,000 job applicants trooping to their Kalayaan Day Job Fair at the SM City General Santos Trade Hall.
DOLE General Santos City Field Office Head Fatima Bataga said 100 local and overseas employers are prepared to participate during the job fair.
Overall, the DOLE Region 12 expects to have around 10,000 available job vacancies during their scheduled job fairs.
An Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) Academe Forum will also be simultaneously done at the SM City General Santos Trade Hall which aims to address the issues on job mismatch through continual dialogue with the industry- academe sector as well as with parents and students in keeping the academic programs responsive to the needs of different industries. (PNA)