Qatar firms to hire 37,000 Filipinos

This is from the peninsulaqatar.

This may be a bit optimistic and Arroyo may be trying to sugar coat the fact that many overseas Filipino workers are losing jobs. I have posted another item underneath from the Kippreport.


Qatari firms to hire 37,000 Filipinos Monday, December 15, 2008-->Web posted at: 12/14/2008 5:50:10Source ::: By JOYCE C ABAÑO
The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani meeting Filipino officials in Doha yesterday.
DOHA: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is visiting Doha for the first time, announced there will be 37,000 jobs available for Filipinos in Doha over the next few years.
“I am glad to hear that there are 37,000 more job openings here for Filipinos. It just confirms the information we have from all over the world that employment among our workers is strong,” said Arroyo. She was speaking at a meeting at the Sheraton Doha with chief executive officers and high-level executives of several companies that employ Filipino workers.
Arroyo said the available jobs, offered by the companies whose representatives were present during the meeting, would make up for the loss of jobs suffered by a thousand or so Filipinos in other countries.
“For the few Filipinos who have lost their jobs — so far our count is only 1,000, those that are confirmed, and around 500 who may lose their jobs — the 37,000 jobs offered by these companies here in Qatar will make up for whoever loses or may lose their jobs,” said Arroyo. She emphasized that the placement of Filipino workers in overseas jobs in various countries remained robust even during the global financial crisis.
Labour Secretary Marianito Roque, who is accompanying the president during her three-day visit, said in an interview that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) continues to process the placement of close to 3,000 Filipino workers who leave the country for overseas employment on a daily basis.
“And now we have this 37,000 projected demand for Filipino manpower,” said Roque.

A minimum salary of 250 dollars a month is hardly a princely sum. Other countries are ready to in effect allow their citizens to become slaves on starvation salaries. The Philippines should be commended for not allowing their citizens to become part of the race to the bottom and degradation.
from the Kippreport:


- Dubai Business Kippreport - http://www.kippreport.com/kipp -
Mayday for Philippines modern heroes?
Posted By Dana El Baltaji On December 11, 2008 @ 10:43 am In Cover Story, Money, The Work
Around 1,200 Filipinos have lost their overseas jobs this year and as many as 50,000 more may be laid off next year as the global recession cuts demand for workers in Asia and elsewhere, the Philippines labor secretary Marianito Roque told [1] Bloomberg recently.
That’s not very heartening news for an economy that is particularly dependent on foreign remittances, and calls its foreign workers “modern heroes.” Around 1.08 million Filipino workers immigrated last year, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA); money sent home from abroad accounts for 11.6 percent of the Philippine economy. Worldwide remittances in 2007 reached $14.4 billion, 13.2 percent higher than 2006. The largest remittances come from US, followed by Saudi Arabia.
While the US employs the largest number of overseas Filipinio workers (OFW’s), the Middle East comes next. In 2007, the number of OFWs in the region stood at more than 2.1 million.
According to the [2] POEA, the Middle East also accounted for 45 percent of the total number of hires and re-hires of OFWs in 2007, the largest in the world. The number indicated a 5.5 percent increase over 2006.
Saudi Arabia topped the list, followed by the UAE. Qatar and Kuwait also came within the top ten destinations for OFWs.
That being the case, the region will play an important role in determining the future of the “modern heroes.” [3] According to the the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), money sent home by UAE-based Filipinos through banks was $502.1 million in 2007. That was 32.9 per cent higher than the previous year.
Most of the countries in the region have already starting hiring less domestic helpers from the Philippines; Saudi hired just 2,581 helpers in 2007, as compared to 11,898 in 2006, a decline of more than 78 percent. In the UAE, the rate fell by 73 percent, and in Qatar it fell by 70 percent.According to the report, the Philippine government’s salary regulations have also made Filipinos more expensive compared with workers from India and elsewhere; for instance, Filipinos working as construction laborers in Saudi Arabia have a minimum salary of $250 a month, compared with as little as $110 a month for other nationalities.
While the Philippines is not the only country affected by the credit crunch, the island nation may have to take some steps, like alter its salary regulations, to help its heroes battle the crisis Article printed from Dubai Business Kippreport: http://www.kippreport.com/kipp
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