Close to 1,500 job seekers flock Labor Day job fair

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

THE more than 3,000 registered applicants of the Labor Day job fair by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Western Visayas on Wednesday fell short of the 39,000 local and overseas vacancies that were up for grabs.

As of Thursday, more than 3,000 hopefuls were interviewed while 65 applicants were hired-on-the-spot (HOT) mostly for local employment according to DOLE-6 Labor Relations Focal Person Niezel Anen Sabrido.

The job fair initiated by DOLE-6 was in line with the Labor Day celebration on May 1, 2019.

According to DOLE Regional Director Cyril Ticao, 63 local participating companies and 10 overseas recruitment agencies will be offering 39, 000 vacancies to the job seekers.

“Today is dedicated to give honor to our workers and thank our modern heroes who work tirelessly for their families. Here today, we have 39, 356 vacancies that are offered for you. Hopefully, you will all be accommodated,” he said

Guest of honor Mayor Jose Espinosa III assured that the city government is working hard to create more local job opportunities by bringing in more investors.

 “We are doing our best nga ang mga investors magkadto diri sa aton, maghimo sang mga business diri. Gani nagalakat kita sa China, America kag nagainvite kita sang iban nga mga pungsod nga maginvest diri sa aton,” he said.

By providing additional opportunities here in the metro, Espinosa hopes that local jobseekers need not go abroad and look for jobs.

“The city is working para nga ang mga pumuluyo diri na lang maubra kag ang iban nga mga empleyado diri na lang man maubra. Gusto naton nga ang mga kabataan indi na magkadto sa iban na lugar ukon siyudad, kundi diri na lang,” he said.

Together with the private sectors, Espinosa said he wants to create a better option for the locals to remain here in the city.

Based on the data from DOLE-6, technical support/customer service representatives (business process outsourcing) still top the number of vacancies for local employment.

This is followed by service crew (hotel and accommodation) and registered nurses.

For overseas vacancies; registered nurses, carpenters, farmers, masons, drivers, engineers, teachers, welders, and waiters, are the notable vacancies according to DOLE-6.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on their 2019 Labor Force Survey for January indicated that Region 6 has a 96.1 percent employment rate.

The percentage is one percent higher from last year and significantly higher compared to the Philippines’ over-all employment rate which is only at 94.8 percent.

Moreover, the underemployment rate of the region also dramatically went down from last year’s 22.9 percent to 16.8 percent, this year.