Saudi Arabia most aggressive recruiter of Pinoy nurses — TUCP

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the “the most aggressive recruiter” of Pinoy nursing professionals and personnel.

In a statement, TUCP Secretary-General and former Senator Ernesto Herrera, citing statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), said Saudi Arabia has consistently hired thousands of Pinoy nurses from 2004 to 2010, unlike in other countries where only hundreds were deployed.

TUCP issued the statement amid reports that Pinoys there are losing nursing positions in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, due to Saudization or Nitaqat.

Herrera downplayed the order’s effect on Pinoy workers, saying that Saudi Arabia imposed Saudization, “just to appease its citizens” and prevent social and political unrest that have been emerging in other countries in the Middle East.

“Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East are definitely still hiring Filipino and other foreign nurses,” said Herrera, who chaired the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources during his term.

Statistics

Saudi Arabia tops the POEA’s list of ten countries where most Pinoy nurses were deployed last year (http://www.poea.gov.ph/stats/2010_Stats.pdf).

In the “New Hires” category for 2010, Saudi Arabia listed:
8,513 professional nurses, and
258 nursing personnel.

The oil-rich country — which has opened more than 8, 700 nursing jobs to Pinoys — is followed by:
2. Singapore (723);
3. United Arab Emirates (478);
4. Libya (417);
5. Kuwait (409);
6. United Kingdom (350);
7. Qatar (299);
8. Taiwan (252);
9. Jordan (112); and
10. Bahrain (93).

Saudi Arabia also beat the United States, which hired only 83 Pinoy nurses last year.

‘Won’t be affected much’

Under the Saudization program, more than 300,000 firms were ordered to open more job opportunities to locals.

Herrera said Saudis prefer handling positions in office environments like the civilian bureaucracy and banks.

Pinoy workers, meanwhile, take on mostly skilled jobs “that Saudi citizens themselves do not want, or could not provide.”

“Our nurses, household service workers, even our skilled construction laborers there won’t be affected that much by Nitaqat,” he said.

In previous reports, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Deputy Administration Josefino Torres said there are not enough locals to bump Pinoy nurses out of their jobs.

“Ang nurses ay kailangan sa Saudi kaya hindi puwede nilang basta bastang sabihing matatanggal ‘yan because of Saudization. Sila din ang tatamaan no’n,” Torres said.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Department of Labor and Employment to assess the possible negative effects of Saudization to Pinoy workers, who sent more than $1.5 billion in remittances last year. – with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, VVP, GMA News