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China may soon hire Filipino household workers


China may soon begin hiring more Filipino workers to address the rising demand for domestic services, especially in its fast-growing provinces. Zhuang Shunfu, deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, as well as 12 other deputies, proposed legalization of working permits of migrant household workers in Southern China and other provinces, a report on Xinhua News said. "There is a growing demand for foreign household helpers, especially those coming from Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, who have won a good reputation in Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong," Zhuang said in a provincial congress. Despite the presence of some 500,000 employment agencies for domestic helpers in China, many firms complain about the lack of quality of household staff for affluent Chinese families or expatriate residents, Zhuang added. According to him, the lack in supply of quality household helpers is a result of the fact that available household service workers mostly come from poor rural areas and are poorly educated. Meanwhile, some reports have it that agencies in Guangdong had advertised the services of Filipino domestic helpers, even describing them as having college education and prior experience in Hong Kong. Zhuang said that migrant domestic workers are having a hard time securing jobs in big cities in China since the country only issues legal work permits to foreign professionals. "None of the foreign household helpers working in China’s big cities like Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Beijing and Shanghai are legal, since China only issues legal work permits to foreign professionals, not common laborers," he said. Zhuang added that amendments in China’s labor laws must be done to facilitate the proposal to launch a pilot program in two or three cities and issue work visas to foreign household staff. Xinhua News cited one Boni Household Service Agency in Shanghai, which claims that the monthly salary for a five-star household helper in China, is well above 2,500 yuan (US$ 350), which is far more competitive than in Hong Kong. It also said that some Guangdong agencies projected the demand for domestic helpers in Shenzen and Guangzhou is around 10,000 in every city. - Mark Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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