OFWs-Deployment

MORE than a fifth of overseas Filipino workers are stationed in Saudi Arabia, according to the National Statistics Office. Data from NSO showed that 22.2 percent of the total two million OFWs deployed from April to September 2010 were working in Saudi Arabia. This was higher than the 21.6 percent in the same period in…

SAUDI FOREVER? Talk among overseas Filipino workers is turning to the possible effects of the Saudization program on them. Photo of Pinoys hanging out at the Balad mall in Jeddah by John Pamintuan JEDDAH—The Saudi government’s announcement that it would hasten its program to replace expat workers with local hands is causing worries among many…

OXON HILL, Maryland – Hundreds of Filipinos teachers trooped to the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) in a desperate bid to hold on to their jobs by carrying letters of appeal, following the decision of the US Department of Labor to bar it from hiring Filipino and other foreign teachers for 2 years.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) today ordered immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to tightly screen Filipino tourists bound for Bahrain following reports that many of them end up as undocumented workers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has downplayed the impact of Saudi Arabia’s decision to stop granting work permits to domestic workers from the Philippines on the total amount of money sent home by Filipinos working abroad.

The Aquino administration was accused yesterday of “misleading” the public of alternative jobsites in other countries for thousands of Filipino domestic helpers who will be displaced by a new Saudi stop-hiring policy for maids from the Philippines due to an unresolved wage row.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said yesterday the government has contingency measures for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in case Saudi Arabia imposes its new policy halting the grant of working permits to domestic helpers coming from Asian countries.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government must study and prepare for the implications of Nitaqat, a new classification system imposed by the Ministry of Labor to boost the number of employed Saudi nationals on more than a million overseas Filipino workers in the Kingdom. This was the prevailing sentiment shared by recruitment agency owners, civil…

The estimated 150,000 overseas domestic workers who are in danger of losing their jobs in Saudi Arabia should not expect any immediate help from the Aquino administration as Malacañang yesterday failed to offer any concrete alternative reemployment plan for them.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has lost one of its labor markets as Saudi Arabia implemented a freeze-hire order Saturday. Starting July 2, Saudi Arabia will no longer issue work permits for domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia due to new hiring guidelines set by the two nations.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero yesterday expressed alarm over the impact on the country of Saudi Arabia’s labor policy prioritizing its nationals over foreigners in job opportunities.

Saudi Arabia will stop issuing work permits to Filipino domestic helpers beginning July 2, adding pressure to the Aquino government to provide more jobs at home.

MANILA, Philippines — The Aquino administration will attempt to work out with the Saudi government to reconsider its ban on the hiring of Filipino maids, according to a Palace official. Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Friday labor authorities are seeking a “viable solution” to the new labor policy in Saudi Arabia while finding alternative…

The possible effects of Saudi Arabia’s decision to stop granting work permits to domestic helpers from the Philippines were downplayed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters Friday that the future displacements from the decision of the Kingdom to stop hiring domestic workers “would only be temporary.”

MANILA, Philippines – The implementation of the new hiring policy in Saudi Arabia, also known as the “Saudization” program, may displace 90,000 low-skilled workers, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.

When Saudi Arabia begins turning away migrant laborers, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can turn to Australia and Canada for employment, the Philippine labor chief said Thursday. In an interview with GMA News Online, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is now exploring to take advantage of the “labor shortage” in Australia and Canada.

Jobs for overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia will soon grow less, according to a recruitment expert, as the looming implementation of a new labor policy there will compel companies to limit the number of their foreign employees.

MANILA, Philippines – Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia are in danger of losing their jobs as the Middle East country starts to strictly implement their “Saudization” scheme, according to a migrants rights group.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has lifted the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Bahrain.

THE higher quality of the Filipino workers being sent abroad made up for the 8-percent drop in the total number dispatched in the first four months, and at the same time raised the amount they remitted during the period, an official said Monday.

About 350,000 overseas Filipino workers OFWs) in Saudi Arabia are on the verge of losing their jobs after the oil-rich kingdom announced a six-year work permit cap to facilitate the employment of its own citizens, an alliance of migrant workers said on Tuesday.

THE Philippines on Friday said that Saudi Arabia had rejected a demand to guarantee higher pay for Filipino maids, temporarily closing one of the largest labor markets for job-hungry Manila.

MANILA, Philippines –  Recruitment industry leaders warned the government yesterday that many Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia might lose their jobs as a consequence of the continuing disagreement over the rules on hiring of Filipino domestic helpers, also called household service workers (HSWs).

Manila, Philippines – The Philippines has rejected an appeal from Saudi Arabia to cut the minimum wage for Filipino maids by half and will not be sending new domestic helpers until the dispute is solved, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported yesterday that hiring of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is expected to decline in the coming months due to recent developments in various host countries.

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino women are leaving the country to work as household service workers (HSWs) in Saudi Arabia, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos are no longer being hired as highly skilled workers in US military bases in Afghanistan, local recruiters said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – A group of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) yesterday demanded the full lifting of the government’s deployment ban in Bahrain to enable more Filipinos to work there.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino workers were stopped from going to Syria yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines –  A delegation of Saudi officials is arriving today to discuss with the Philippine government the suspension on the processing and deployment of Filipino household service workers (HSWs).