DOLE prepares for biggest, longest job fair in May

MANILA, Philippines – Lots of jobs and other incentives await workers on Labor Day.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and trade unions are now gearing for the country’s biggest and longest job fair to commemorate Labor Day.

Labor Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz said over 100,000 local and overseas jobs will be up for grabs during the month-long nationwide job fair.

“An initial 80,000 jobs have already been committed for the May 1 celebration and the figure does not include those from private companies and recruiters and from other regions,” Baldoz said.

She noted that trade unions led by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) opted to hold a month-long job fair to facilitate the employment of more jobseekers, particularly those who were displaced by the ongoing financial crisis.

Labor Assistant Secretary Reydeluz Conferido said the job fair would produce more “hatch” or on the spot hiring.

Conferido noted that only a few workers were hired on the spot in past job fairs because of difficulty in completing the assessment of the qualifications of applicants and securing all the necessary requirements.

“It usually takes a day to assess the qualification, so this time we are giving the applicants more time to submit their resume so that employers can assess them,” he said.

Conferido added that DOLE will also undertake skills training during the event to address the problem of mismatch of needed and available skills.

This early, Conferido said jobseekers can already apply or register through the Internet using the DOLE’s philjobnet.

Those who do not have access to Internet may apply at local government units and malls where DOLE has already put up kiosks.

TUCP will also distribute application forms to their members who were displaced as a result of the global financial crisis.

Alex Aguilar, TUCP spokesman, said they launched the job fair dubbed Jobapalooza ’09 to make it easier for jobseekers and displaced workers to apply and land jobs at this time of economic crisis.–Mayen Jaymalin, Philippine Star