Thousands of job seekers troop to DoLE job fairs nationwide

The government’s JOBapalooza ’09 job fair attracted thousands of job applicants in Metro Manila and in major cities in Mindanao on Friday. The country-wide job fair offered over 200,000 jobs in construction, business process outsourcing, engineering and overseas work. Majority were overseas jobs.

DoLE spokesperson Jay T. Julian told BusinessWorld that over 20,000 applicants went to the job fair at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City in hopes of landing a job.

Vice-President Noli de Castro and other officials of the DoLE attended the job fair at the SMX Convention Center.

Several labor groups including the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) participated in the event.

“More than 20,000 people are here and that’s why we are encouraging other applicants to go to other SM branches,” said Mr. Julian.

He added that most branches of SM are hosting simultaneous job fairs all over the country.

In Davao City, Gaisano Mall and SM City hosted the event, spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), even as militant workers braved the heat of the sun to mark Labor Day.

Regional Labor official Ofelia B. Domingo cited gains of a similar job fair held at the Gaisano Mall of Davao on April 24: 325 job applicants hired on the spot, 173 of whom are bound for overseas assignments. In its accomplishment report, the labor agency said 5,137 job applicants registered for the April job fair, with 3,472 referred to the 71 participating companies and agencies.

More than 800 jobseekers attended the fair in Cagayan de Oro City which started as early as Thursday. Northern Mindanao is regarded as among the regions hardest hit by the global economic downturn since it hosts manufacturing plants that depend on demand from the international market. Plant shutdowns and downscaling in production in local industrial enclaves have resulted in layoffs of close to 3,000 in the last four months.

Regional Labor officials are expecting to employ more than 2,000 people in local assignments and up to 2,000 for overseas jobs this weekend. Thirty overseas recruitment agencies and about 70 local firms are participating in the job fair. One major firm listed was Nestle Philippines, Inc. Other local firms were contact centers and lending companies.

In Central Mindanao, Ma. Gloria A. Tango, regional Labor department director, said mega job fairs were held simultaneously in the cities of General Santos, Kidapawan and Cotabato. Ms. Tango said some 8,000 job vacancies for overseas employment and 2,200 for local employment were offered in the fairs. She added that since April 20, the Labor department’s Public Employment Service Offices in the region have been registering graduates and jobseekers to facilitate skills matching.

JOBapalooza 2009 in Central Mindanao also includes livelihood fair and skills demo, trade exhibits, and a discount fair participated in by major retailers in the region. The National Labor and Relations Commission and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board set up booths for those seeking legal assistance.

The Technical Education Skills Development Authority, the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA) and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board also had desks to handle inquiries about training.

In Zamboanga City, the DoLE regional office said more than 100 applicants out of over a thousand were hired before noon on Friday. Ponciano M. Ligutom, Labor regional director, said more applicants are expected to be hired since the job fair is offering more than 7,000 jobs, mostly for overseas work.

Irene Ventura, a fresh graduate with a bachelor’s degree in education, said she is applying for temporary work as a jewellery shop attendant while waiting for the next board exam for teachers. “Rather than stay idle at home, I want to help my family to earn a living,” she said.

The event is not limited to job interviews; local food manufacturers also displayed their products and slashed the price of their goods by 50%, particularly for those job seekers who were retrenched due to the global financial crisis. The region’s employers group also initiated raffles giving away appliances and even a land title.

On top of this, the OWWA regional office also gave P50,000 loans for seven identified displaced returning workers for start up capital. The DoLE earlier released more than P3 million to assist laid off workers, estimated at around 3,000 all over Zamboanga Peninsula, during the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the militant labor group Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) held a protest rally near Malacanang to call for job generation and a social stimulus package.

“What we are seeing is not just the failure of the neoliberal paradigm but a systemic crisis, a crisis of capitalism. As such, government’s business-as-usual attitude to the global financial crisis will not get us anywhere,” said APL chairperson Daniel L. Edralin in a statement.

He added that job fairs are not the answer because “applicants in DoLE’s jobs fairs will find out that they are being recruited as replacement workers as most of the contracts of employment available will be for four to five months only, without security of tenure.”

In Mindanao, members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) staged a picket in front of the camp of the Eastern Mindanao Command and the 10th Infantry Battalion, before marching through Davao City’s major streets to converge at the Rizal Park for a program. Arman Blase, KMU spokesperson, assailed the JOBapalooza as nothing but a government gimmick. –EMILIA NARNI J. DAVID, Reporter and the Mindanao Bureau, Businessworld