1,000 Pinoys in UAE register for job transfers

MANILA, Philippines - About 1,000 of 3,000 displaced Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have registered for job transfers with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Deira. Online news site Khaleej Times reported that more than 100 of them sought possible transfer to jobs in Qatar and other countries. Labor attaché Virginia Calvez said over 213,000 Filipinos are working in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and 20 percent of these are domestic helpers. She said the rest are skilled and semi-skilled professionals. "The number of retrenched workers, 1,000 of whom from Jebel Ali, represent only 10 per cent of the total," she said. Last Wednesday, overseas operations coordinating service director Jocelyn Hapal, who heads a mobile reintegration task force from Manila, urged companies terminating services of Filipino workers to advise them to go to POLO for job matching. In a meeting with businessmen, companies and agencies recruiting Filipinos, Hapal urged them to explain to their employees before sacking them the need to go to POLO. She also stressed the need for them to give a forecast of future redundancies as the economic situation worsens. Companies that want to keep their employees said they had advised their employees to go on forced leave, to be recalled soon after the economic situation gets better. They also said employees have been provided with air tickets and salaries. Some companies said they transfer some of their workers to their projects in other countries. Others said they terminate services of some less productive workers and give their jobs to well-motivated people. Still others reported to have reduced the salaries of their workers by 20 percent or more, depending on the financial situation of the company. Hapal encouraged the companies to report the actual number of sacked Filipinos so they can be given alternative local jobs or transferred to other countries. She said those who want to go home and undergo further training could do so as the entire Overseas Workers Welfare Administration building in Manila has been converted into a training center to assist the displaced overseas Filipinos. - GMANews.TV