AFTER 10 years of continued growth, the Philippines last year posted a 9-percent decline in overseas employment, falling from a high of more than 2 million in 2016 to less than 2 million in 2017.
Records show that the country, which has been sending overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to 180 countries for decades, deployed 2,112,331 people two years ago, but this went down to 1,992,746 in 2017, according to recruitment consultant Manny Geslani.
He said, “2017 was a banner year for OFW deployment, but last year’s drop of 9 percent was the first in 10 years.”
Tracing the record from 2008, when 1,236,613 OFWs were sent abroad, Geslani said the numbers had shown a yearly increase since then until 2015, when 1,841,205 OFWs were deployed; and in 2016, when 2,112,331 migrant workers left the country
The recruitment consultant said the 9-percent decrease in deployment may be attributed to factors such as a decline in the hiring of new hires to Saudi Arabia, which dropped to 163,238 in 2017.
“In 2016 Riyadh hired only 219,134 Ofws, a major decrease in the top 10 destinations which include Kuwait, Qatar, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates,” said Geslani.
He listed as the second factor for the decline the increasing shift of Saudi Arabia to local labor. It has been employing more of its citizens to work in companies and malls, as part of its “Saudization” policy.
He added that many major projects in the Kingdom have been shelved or delayed, causing the termination or exodus of more 30,000 Filipinos in 2016 to 2017. “These are mostly skilled workers in construction, maintenance services and oil industries.”
He added that crude oil, the Middle East’s main export product, which has stayed in the $70 to $80 level, has prevented the Saudis from proceeding with their infrastructure projects.
The sole exception to the stagnation or cutback in construction is Qatar, “which is preparing for the football World Cup in 2022,” he said.
Household workers
Geslani noted that the household service workers (HSW) sector also dropped by 8 percent in 2017 with only 231,251 Filipinos hired, compared to 275,073 in 2016. “This was due to internal controls implemented by the Philippine Labor Officers in the Middle East,” he said.
Looking ahead, the recruitment expert said HSW deployment in 2018 is not expected to go beyond the 200,000 mark, with the deployment ban imposed by Kuwait from January to July in 2018. “This has resulted in the loss of 40,000 jobs for Filipinos.”
Among the top skills listed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) are HSW, manufacturing, nurses, cleaners and helpers, waiters, home-based personal cares, civil engineering, laborers, welders and flame cutters.
Also in demand are health-care assistants; plumbers and pipe fitters; building construction laborers; drivers of cars, taxis and vans; cooks, dancers and choreographers, and stall and market sales staff.
“However, the outlook in Asia is quite good with the opening of the Japan market for more technical trainees and caregivers this month and expected to surge till the end of the year,” Geslani added.
More than 120 local recruitment agencies have been accredited by Japanese authorities to be deployed in agricultural, construction, skilled workers and caregivers for the next five years to fill up the labor shortage in that country, according to him.
“Other promising labor markets are Germany, which needs hundreds of nurses; Czechoslovakia, Russia and the United Kingdom, which recently lifted visa rules for more Filipino nurses.”