POEA: More job opportunities abroad available for Filipinos

More job opportunities abroad are available for nurses, truck drivers, and the IT sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said Saturday.

"Dahil din po sa pandemic na ito, nagkakaroon po tayo ng mas maraming opportunities particularly sa professionals natin like nurses, truck drivers natin kailangan na kailangan. And of course sa IT sector natin marami na rin pong demand pagdating sa overseas employment," POEA deputy administrator Bong Plan said at the Laging Handa briefing.

(Due to the pandemic, more and more job opportunities, particularly for our professionals like nurses, truck drivers. And of course in our IT sector there is a lot of demand when it comes to overseas employment.)

While demand for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was lower compared to the pre-pandemic period, their deployment is gradually increasing since 2021, Plan said.

"The industry that had a quite high demand and easily recovered is the seafaring industry," Plan said in Filipino.

However, land-based deployment is recovering at a much slower pace.

Plan said the POEA is already drafting its guidelines for the resumption of deployment to Taiwan, following the Taiwanese government’s lifting of its ban on the entry of migrant workers.

Under the guidelines, the recruitment agencies of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) must shoulder the required quarantine protocol expenses.

Taiwan will open its doors to migrant workers starting February 15.

Plan said POEA estimated that there are about 40,000 OFWs that are set to be deployed in Taiwan.

"As of now, we have 'in the pipeline' (awaiting processing) of about 5,000 workers going to Taiwan," he said. —LBG, GMA News