DOLE: Over 740,000 Pinoys hired in Middle East in 2011

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)  said majority of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) last year went to the Middle East, with 743,535 hires.

This was followed by Asia (361,796); Europe (58,852), and the United States (26,851), DOLE said.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said espite tension in some countries, where many Filipinos are employed, the deployment of land-based workers increased by 10 percent last year.

“We project that a large volume of the estimated increase will be in new hires and re-hires destined for Asia,” Baldoz said.

This 2012, DOLE said the 6.8 percent increase in the number of land-based workers (or about 1,329,346 workers) and a 2.02 hike in the number of sea-based workers (or 350,527 workers).

In 2011, new hires in the Middle East increased by 14 percent (or about 34,000 new jobs).

By sector, land-based workers account for the bulk of deployment, with new hires OFWs rising by 27.26 percent over the 2010 deployment.

On the other hand, re-hires increased by only 3.53 percent.

Meanwhile, Baldoz also reported that the department is looking to assist 1.2 million jobseekers to be employed this year. – VVP, GMA News