Labor Day in Luzon: Local, foreign jobs are offered

APPLICANTS are interviewed for the “Sagip Nars” program of the Ilocos Norte provincial government, which was launched on March 28 and seeks to employ registered nurses in the province and deploy them to different villages for work experiences they can use for employment abroad. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—At least 404 companies are joining Labor Day fairs in Central Luzon, seeking to land at least 20,000 workers on local and overseas jobs to help narrow the ranks of unemployed residents in the region, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials said.

Raymundo Agravante, DOLE regional director, said the May 1 event aims to fill 9,244 local job vacancies for professionals, managers, supervisors, customer service representatives, call center agents, sales clerks, office clerks, production workers, machine operators and service workers.

At least 10,638 overseas jobs are open to professionals, engineers, administrative assistants, cooks, waiters and waitresses, construction workers, plumbers and factory workers, he said.

DOLE records show that 3.966 million of 4.349 million workers in Central Luzon are employed as of January 2014.

The underemployment and unemployment rates in the region stood at 11.3 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.

Agravante said the job fairs would have teams from the Social Security System, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the National Statistics Office to issue birth certificates, clearance and identification cards.

Venues include SM malls in Bulacan, Pampanga, Clark, City of San Fernando, Olongapo City, Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City; Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac City; Aurora provincial capitol in Baler town; and President Ramon Magsaysay Sports Complex in Candelaria town in Zambales province.

Provincial governments are sponsoring jobs fairs after May 1. These include sales and display booths by beneficiaries of various government agencies’ integrated livelihood program.

Agravante said the DOLE would set up computers so workers could access the agency’s online job search hub, www.phil-jobnet.com.

In Ilocos Norte province, the provincial government’s two-day “paperless job fair” ends today (April 30) at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Laoag City.

The provincial government partnered with the Jobs Data Base Philippines (JobsDB) to conduct the job fair.

“The summer job fair serves as an answer to fresh graduates who are seeking jobs. We bring them closer to various job opportunities locally, in Manila and overseas with the help of JobsDB Philippines site,” said Nicole Rudio, chief of the provincial public employment service office, in the statement.

Preregister online

Rudio said the partnership with JobsDB Philippines makes the processing of applications easier. “They (applicants) don’t need to bring their resumé. They can preregister online. Only interviews are done on site,” she said.

Rudio said interested applicants may preregister at www.jobsdb.com.ph by clicking the Ilocos Norte Summer Job Fair 2014 banner to speed up transaction and to avoid long queues.

Applicants who do not have access to the Internet can still be accommodated and register at the venue. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon and Inquirer Northern Luzon