Baldoz: Deployment of household service workers declines by 20%

MANILA – While attending the 104th International Labor Conference in Geneva, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz received very good news from the Philippines: the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) has declined drastically in the first five months of 2015.

“I received a report from Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Leo J. Cacdac that the deployment of newly-hired OFWs as household service workers has decreased by 20 percent over a five-month period, from January to May 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. While the data is preliminary, it is very encouraging,” Baldoz said in press statement issued from Geneva.

In his report, Administrator Cacdac said the decrease in the number of newly-hired HSWs was broad enough, going down from 70,034 to only 55,961 during the period under review.

Saudi Arabia leads the countries with reduced number of newly-hired HSWs, registering only 20,949 compared to 26,570 in 2014; followed by United Arab Emirates, which hired only 215 HSW in 2015 compared to 13,440 in 2014; and Hong Kong, which received only 5,825 HSWs compared to 8,409 in 2014.

Other leading countries of HSW destination that posted decreased HSWs hired during the five-month period were as follows: Singapore, from 4,853 in 2014 to only 3,798 in 2015; Bahrain, from 2,029 to 1,982; Malaysia, from 4,179 to only 1,725; Cyprus, from 424 to only 322; Brunei, from 273 to only 147; and Macau, from 143 to only 75.

Baldoz observed that the strict process of approval for HSW job orders that has been in place since the beginning of the year must have contributed to the decline in HSW deployment, coupled with other protective measures, such as a standard employment contract that provides minimum wage of US$400 per month, the no placement fee policy, and mandatory training.

Secretary Baldoz at the beginning of the year also required overseas labor offices to align their training programs with TESDA regulations, and ordered an on-site skills assessment and certification so that HSWs, especially those who are distressed and sheltered at the Filipino Workers Resource Center, could upgrade their skills and consider the option of taking up other occupations with higher pay outside of their home-based domestic work.

Baldoz said these new policy thrusts are in line with the directive of the President under his Social Contract with the Filipino people to transform overseas labor offices into centers of care and excellence.

In a related development, Baldoz directed POEA chief Cacdac to prepare an updated assessment of the Philippine government’s policy on the deployment of household service workers with the end in view of further strengthening their welfare and protection.

Baldoz’s directive for an update assessment was made in the light of a report of Labor Attache Jainal Rasul, who is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that the new Saudi Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani will hold meetings on the sidelines of the 104th International Labor Conference with labor exporting countries Kenya, Djibouti, and Nepal purportedly to discuss agreements for the recruitment of domestic labor.

Labor Attache Rasul said in his report the move was to “expand options for Saudi citizens to recruit workers from these countries”.

“He also said an official of a Saudi labor recruitment company was quoted to that said “the number of Filipino domestic workers in Saudi Arabia has reached more than four times the required level, with over 60,000 domestic workers recruited during 2014”, and that “having the Ministry of Labor open doors for recruitment of domestic workers from other countries would break the Philippine monopoly and reduce the high prices that came as a result.”

Baldoz said this move may have a bearing on efforts of the Philippines to rationalize the deployment of HSWs to Saudi Arabia.

“This is why there is a need for the POEA to prepare a fresh assessment of the government’s HSW deployment policy in all labor markets of HSW,” she said.

“We are really purposive and determined in our thrust to ensure that the workers we deploy, particularly HSWs, who are the most vulnerable, meet employers’ standards of skills quality so that they will be adequately remunerated based on their skills and so that they will be fully protected and their welfare ensured.”

“Given this direction, we respect the prerogative of Saudi Arabia to remove supply dependency on the Philippines and develop alternative sources of supply,” Baldoz said of the labor market reality. –InterAksyon.com