German shipping firms still hiring new Filipino workers

MANILA, Philippines – German shipping firms are still hiring new Filipino workers in spite of the effects of the global financial crisis, a ranking official said.

German Ambassador to the Philippines Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lorstch said that as far as he knows, German shipping firms are still hiring and training people. He noted that the job market in Germany is still open for Filipino workers.

At the same time, Weber-Lortsch said that he is not aware of any layoffs.

For his part, German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GPCCI) president Klaus Schroeder said that jobs of OFWs are assured after the crisis.

However, with regard to investments, Schroeder said that the global crisis has not spared bilateral German-Philippine trade. In 2008 exports from the Philippines decreased by 5.9 percent, while imports to the Philippines decreased by 2.5 percent.

He noted that the figures declined further in the first half of 2009 but are now beginning to recover in the third quarter.

“The decrease was mainly due to the strong negative effects which the global economic crises had on the electronic and semiconductor industry as well as the effects on the garment and furniture industries,” he said.

Schroeder said that electronic products are responsible for more than 50 percent of all German imports from the Philippines and for around 25 percent of all German exports to the Philippines. “The recovery of the electronic and semiconductor industry will certainly have a positive effect on the trade volume in the coming months,” Schroeder explained.

Despite the crisis, Schroeder said that there are still investments in the country by German firms. Continental/Temic – one of the biggest German investors in the Philippines – opened up its third factory in Calamba/Laguna in September 2008. Continental/Temic presently employs around 1,300 people.

Likewise, Lufthansa Technik Philippines has further expanded to Cebu in order to repair Boing 777 aircraft. Because of this Lufthansa Technik Philippines has continuously grown to now 2,800 highly trained employees.

In February 2009 Arvato Digital Service opened a 600-seat call center in Quezon City. The subsidiary of the German publishing company Bertelsmann is already making plans for future expansion.

German shipowner Peter Doehle from Hamburg extended their services in the Philippines from the traditional manning and recruitment activity into BPO with additional services in accounting and travel which have been partly moved from Europe to the Philippines.

The local office doubled the numbers of employees from 60 staff to nearly 120 within the past two years with further expected growth in the future.

This month Southern Industrial Gases Phils., Inc. (SIG) – part of the German Linde Group – is opening a new air separation unit (ASU) in Balamban Cebu. The investment of P1 billion will produce low temperature gases for the ship building industry and also liquid oxygen for supply to hospitals in the Visayas and Mindanao. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)