PALO, Leyte—Almost 20,000 jobs were made available in a recent job fair that was part of the weeklong series of activities in celebration of the 73rd Leyte Gulf Landings Anniversary on October 20.
The job fair, organized by the Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Leyte provincial government, was participated by the top 10 recruitment agencies in the country, as well as over 30 local establishments that are in need of additional manpower.
“We were able to invite top rank employment and placement agencies in Manila as well as big local companies,” said Wilson Uy, president of LCCI. “This is our way to help promote more development activity toward increased productivity and productiveness in the region.”
Uy said the invited recruitment and placement agencies have combined job orders for 1,246 professionals, 14,409 skilled workers and 3,319 household works.
Established brands with local offices, like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Jollibee, Andoks and Pepsi Cola, also participated in the job fair. Uy said at least 500 jobs for local posting were also available for job seekers. Local recruitment and training centers for calls centers in Manila and Cebu also set up booth for applicants who wish to apply in the business-process outsource sector.
Uy said they wanted to generate the most number of local jobs available because of the preference of many people to work locally than in any place outside of the region.
“Every person added to the local employment directly contributes to the development of the region,” Uy said.
He added that if the 500 local jobs will be filled up and each will earn an average of P10,000 a month, this will mean an additional P5 million that will be spent in local businesses and contribute to the local economy.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that as of July this year, over 3 million residents in Eastern Visayas were in the labor force with a labor participation rate of 60.7 percent.
In the same period, unemployment rate was at 4 percent, while underemployment was at a high 21.9 percent.