More job opportunities are being presented to Filipinos in Europe as the European Union (EU) needs about 2 million migrant workers who will augment the region’s sagging work force due to its aging population.
EU Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux said most of the job vacancies in Europe are in the sectors of health, information and communications technology (ICT), engineering, sales and finance.
The EU and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) partnered with Philippine government agencies in launching programs that facilitate safe migration and put into better use the remittances of overseas Filipino workers.
The EU and OECD launched a €2.8-million funding program to promote migration and development projects in 10 countries that have large numbers of migrant workers, including the Philippines.
Ledoux said the number of Filipino migrant workers “looks set to remain high in spite of robust economic growth,” thus, the need to design policy strategies that will link migration to economic progress.
“As the Philippines embarks on a crucial stage in its development, it is imperative that the migration dimension is well established in the design and implementation of its development strategies and policies,” said Ledoux at the EU-OECD workshop between public policies, migration and development held at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City on Monday.
The EU envoy said “it will not be long before Europe starts to feel the impact of its aging population and shrinking work force.”
Although Europe is not looking at migration as the only answer to fill in the shrinking number of talents, he said “it is certainly part of a common solution supportive of the EU’s economic growth strategy.”
He said the Philippines, with more than 10 million migrant workers, has established institutional systems to manage migration and has adopted migration-related laws.
However, there are strategies integrated in the EU-OECD project that channel remittances toward productive investment to reduce the social cost associated with family separation. –Estrella Torres, Businessmirror
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