DOLE: Pinoy seafarers, caregivers top choice in Malta

Filipino seafarers, caregivers and service industry workers are the top choices of employers in Malta, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Thursday. DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said employers in the Mediterranean country have expressed desire to hire these Filipino workers. "Labor attache (stationed in Tripoli Nasser) Mustaffa reported that he had traveled to Valletta, the Maltese capital, to meet with the 1,000—strong Filipino community and assess the prospects of deploying more workers there. His assessment was positive," Baldoz said in an article posted on the Labor Department website. She said Maltese employers particularly cited Filipino caregivers' efficiency and love of work. Mustaffa said Filipino caregivers he had spoken to in Malta, a prime tourist destination, expressed preference to stay and work there because of high pay. "Malta’s minimum wage is 620 Euro ($820) and Filipino workers there receive not less than this minimum wage amount. Besides, Filipino workers in Malta are allowed to do part-time jobs after eight hours of regular work," he said. On the other hand, Baldoz warned jobseekers desiring to work in Malta to check their prospective employers, as well as their recruitment agencies, with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to ensure that there are valid job orders from Malta and that they would undergo legal application and deployment processes. "There is no Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Malta. It is under the jurisdiction of our POLO in Libya and it is our POLO in Tripoli which will verify employment contracts for Malta," Baldoz said. "Go to POEA first, before you entertain any job offer from Malta," she added. - KBK, GMANews.TV