DMW in talks with over 20 countries for OFW deployment

MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it is in talks with over 20 countries interested in the hiring of Filipino skilled and professional workers. 

DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne “PY” Caunan said 39 labor agreements are currently in the pipeline.

This involves several EU countries in need of thousands of workers. 

Hungary for example, has initially hired 6,000 Filipinos during a pilot employment program. 

After threshing out the terms and conditions in employment contracts, talking to employers and inspecting workplaces and accommodation, the DMW is getting ready to setup a Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Budapest to facilitate Hungary’s recruitment of even more Filipinos.

“Ang sinabi sa atin kung nakaabot tayo ng 6,000 under a pilot for Hungary, tinitingnan nila is 10,000 to 20,000 workers in Hungary…meron yung sa factory workers, meron sa agricultural, meron din sa hospitality and IT,” Caunan said.

Aside from Hungary, the DMW also signed two agreements for the deployment of Filipino skilled workers and nurses to Austria, which Caunan said is suffering from a shortage of about 200,000 workers.

Croatia also communicated its interest in hiring Filipino tourism workers, while up to 10,000 Filipino workers are also needed in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, Germany which has been recruiting Filipino nurses for 10 years through the government-to-government Triple Win Program, is finalizing an agreement with the Philippines, for the deployment of even non-healthcare workers.

Italy’s ambassador in the Philippines also relayed his country’s interest in hiring more Filipino nurses.

“You have a very good reputation for that so definitely that would be nice and we are also trying to work on that too that we might have more and more Filipino and Filipina nurses in Italy but also in other kind of sector, even more professional than that, even engineers,” Ambassador Marco Clemente said, during the launch of Italy’s new visa processing centers, which also handles work visas for Filipinos.
 
Despite many labor agreements still pending signatures, all aforementioned countries have active job orders that are already open for application. The details can be found on the DMW website.

The DMW also reiterated its warning against illegal recruiters, who are not only targeting Filipinos in the Philippines, but also overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) already working in other countries. The said scheme is known as third country recruitment.

“Kung tingin niyo mas mabilis, kung tingin niyo mas mura na gawin yung ganung iligal na proses, nagkakamali kayo… nirecruit sila dinala sila sa Brussels, Belgium kasi mas mataas ang sweldo pagdating doon walang trabaho. Walang accomodation. Kami po sa department, payagan niyo kaming bantayan kayo. Kasi nagdesisyon na kayo mag abroad, chinecheck namin employer chinecheck namin accomodation niyo, chinecheck kontrata para may laban tayo,” Caunan appealed to OFWs.

The DMW also wants to make sure that labor agreements include some form of investment in the Philippines, such as scholarship for students and training or upskilling for workers. This is also for the purpose of protecting the country’s own manpower requirements.

Credits: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/14/23/dmw-in-talks-with-over-20-countries-for-ofw-deployment

Image: https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/14/20210531-international-airport-departure-jc-025224160.jpg

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