Another job fair for displaced Pogo workers set in November

MANILA, Philippines — Another job fair for displaced Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) workers will happen in November, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Wednesday.

According to Laguesma, the job fair will happen in the second or third week of November. The secretary also said that he wants a two-day job fair on a weekend.

“We will have another job fair next month and we will expand the information dissemination. We are also coordinating with the employers to allow the workers to join [the job fair] and for them to not be marked absent from work,” Laguesma said in a media forum in Manila Hotel.

READ: 33 Pogo workers hired on the spot at DOLE special job fair

Laguesma said that a prior job fair was done in October for the Pogo workers. The job fair was done on the basis of the profiling of the workers to know what kind of jobs they do, how much their income is, and what their skills are.

READ: Dole assures support for displaced Pogo workers

The DOLE noted that 340 Pogo workers were registered to participate in the October job fair where 33 of them were hired on the spot.

“Aside from the profiling, we also showed them that they can avail the livelihood program of the department. They can also avail upskilling, reskilling because a lot of them are encoders, so their skills can widen,” Laguesma added.

The labor secretary previously said that support would be given to displaced Pogo workers, saying that the ban will not contribute to an increase in unemployment.

The labor department completed the profiling of 26,996 Pogo workers from the National Capital Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Central Luzon, and Central Visayas. They all came from 54 internet gaming licensee companies.

After the pronouncement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ban the Pogos in the country, he instructed the department to find new jobs for the displaced Filipino Pogo workers.