NEWS

Pinoy med workers hire tops, DH stays afloat
24 October 2008

With the stock market's recent descent and recession for some countries just around the corner, hiring of health workers is still on the rise.

Service-oriented jobs such as care givers and nurses are still on demand in Western countries particularly in US, Canada and United Kingdom.

According to Emmanuel Geslani, a recruitment consultant, in his interview with Business World, the health care sector is a ërecession-proofí industry and because of the continued advancement in medical technology, demand for health care providers will continue to rise. With the ageing population of these countries, health workers are outsourced to take care of the growing number of old citizens.

Meanwhile, DoLE Usec. Lourdes Trasmonte said during the Decent Work Agenda that domestic helpers (DHs) may still be able to keep their jobs despite the economic conditions. But such stability still depends upon the reaction of the country and its employers to possible recession.

Furthermore, Trasmonte advised OFWs to start saving and investing particularly in agriculture. Others who would be affected by the layoff may still apply at other countries like Australia and Canada.

Recently the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia which offer Filipinos 160,000 jobs ranging from skilled work like mechanics and electrician to health workers and tourism-related personnel.

OFWs are the primary source of dollar reserves of the country. In the first semester of this year, migrant workers all over the globe remitted US$9.6 billion to their families based on the data gathered by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from different banks and money transfer agencies. This is 18% higher than last yearís first semester remittance.

Trabaho.com thanks the following sources:

Antonio, Raymund F. Manila Bulletin Online. Hiring of more Filipino medical workers seen Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN20081013137853.html

Antonio, Raymund F. Manila Bulletin Online. DoLE preparing contingency plan for Filipino workers abroad. Retrieved October 14, 2008
http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN20081014137926.html

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Overseas Filipino Remittances Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/Statistics/keystat/ofw.htm

Business World. Health care shielded from crisis Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://bworldonline.com/BW101308/content.php?id=074

DOLE News Detail RP launches decent work agenda to provide full, productive jobs for Pinoy workers Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://www.dole.gov.ph/news/details.asp?id=N000002253

Esplanada, Jerry E. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Nursing now an Ailing Profession Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/features/features/view_article.php?article_id=165747

OíBrien, Sharon, About.com. American Communities not prepared for an Aging Population
http://seniorliving.about.com/od/babyboomers/a/aging_populatio.htm

Philippine Daily Inquirer. RP Maids fear layoffs Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20081013-166098/RP-maids-fear-layoffs

Uy, Veronica. Inquirer.net. DoLE: 160,000 jobs at British Columbia. Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=165303

Uy, Veronica, Inquirer.net. RP Maids abroad to keep jobs Retrieved October 13, 2008
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20081013-166174/RP-maids-abroad-to-keep-jobs