Number of Pinoy skilled workers in Dubai drops in 2009

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino skilled workers hired in Dubai and other cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slightly dropped this year due to the prevailing financial crisis.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has reported a 1.4 percent decline in the hiring of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE, specifically Dubai, this year compared to the previous year.

Manalili noted that among the country’s top 10 markets for OFWs, only UAE and Taiwan recorded a drop in employment of land-based workers this year.

She said Taiwan, which was severely affected by the global financial crisis that started in October 2008, recorded a sharp 22 percent decline in the hiring of OFWs.

Early this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that hundreds of OFWs employed in Dubai were terminated.

DOLE officials said some of the retrenched OFWs returned home, while others found alternative jobs.

Last month, Dubai suffered from a credit crisis but Philippine labor officials maintained that it was unlikely to affect the employment of over 200,000 Filipino workers there.

Manalili said POEA has not received any reports of displacements among Filipino workers employed in Dubai as of the first week of December.

“We are closely monitoring the situation there, but we have not received any reports of displacements so far,” Manalili disclosed.

The local recruitment industry, however, projected a steady drop in the deployment of Filipino workers to Dubai in the coming year because of the prevailing credit crisis.

Recruitment officials said the country is unlikely to maintain the 70 percent growth in hiring of Filipino workers from 2007 to 2008 because of the crisis.

Data from the POEA also indicated a decline in the number of newly hired nurses and other professional workers in various countries abroad this year.

Except for service and agricultural workers, the rest of the occupational groups posted fewer number of newly hired workers. –Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)