Monday, September 25, 2006 Firm eyes more workers for abroad
ALTHOUGH there are about eight million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a placement agency has reported a growing need for qualified Filipinos to fill jobs abroad.
This is why Manpower Resources of Asia Inc. (MRA) is exerting extra effort to expand its pool of applicants to meet the demands of its international clients.
In an interview, MRA vice president for operations Christopher Dino Dumatol said the increasing number of high-paying jobs for OFWs and the lack of qualified applicants have prompted the company to set up an office in Cebu to broaden their search.
“We have to move extra hard to find the right people. It is not enough for us anymore to sit down and wait for applicants to come to us. We have to go to them,” he said.
Develop
“Years ago, we can readily provide our clients with what they require. Now, accepting applicants is not enough. We felt the need to develop people,” Dumatol said.
This is why MRA part-nered with Salazar Institute of Technology (SIT), an educational institution, to provide qualified human resource.
MRA, which is licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, has provided professional and technical personnel and craftsmen for land-based construction projects, such as oil and natural gas, plants, on-shore and offshore pipe laying and related facilities, dredging and reclamation, various industrial operations, hospitals, health-care organizations and information technology firms.
Edwin Salazar, MRA Cebu branch manager and SIT president, said the office has already started accepting applicants although it will open in November yet.
He said SIT will soon offer short-term technical and vocational courses, such as welding, to supply the needs of MRA’s clients.
Dumatol said overseas employment agencies are having difficulties in supplying their clients workers with the right skills.
“We foresee that there is a need for a training facility to train applicants for Cebu,” he said.
Dumatol said recruitment agencies have to provide the training to produce qualified recruits, otherwise applicants from other countries will take the place of Filipinos. (JBN)
