Saturday, November 25, 2006 Clark firms hire 9,500 workers in 10 months By Dante M. Fabian
CLARK ZONE, Pampanga - A continued rise in the employment rate inside Clark
Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) has been noted with 9,541 hired by locators during the past 10 months, the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) reported.
The steady increase in employment has made the CSEZ has become one of the most active ecozones in terms of providing employment opportunities.
In a press statement, the CDC said its Customer Service Department (CSD) recorded an average of 954 employees hired every month from January until October this year.
With the increase number of workers in Clark from 36,883 in Dec. 31, 2005 to 46,424 in October 31 this year, the economic zone has become one of the most active in Central Luzon in the last nine months in terms of providing job opportunities.
The CSD reported to CDC President Levy P. Laus that the number of employees came from Clark ecozone’s 339 reporting firms out of 389 registered locators.
The figure, which has doubled since the assumption of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Chief Executive in January 2001, is still Clark’s all-time high over taking the previous high of 45,727 last September 30.
According to reports submitted by the operating firms, most of the workers are employed in the industrial-garments, and sewing firms with 13,465 workers or 29 percent of the total number of workers, followed by industrial-electronics with 7,162 workers 15.43 percent.
Commercial-related firms have at least 5,445 workers or 11.73 percent and 5,121 workers or 11.03 percent from the IT/Telecom industries in Clark, 4,5006 or 9.71 percent on various tourism projects and 3,907 or 8.42 percent on other industrial and manufacturing firms.
Angelo C. Lopez, Jr., CDC’s public relations department manager, said more workers are expected to be employed inside the economic zone once the tourism projects signed by two Korean firms becomes operational next year including the opening of a new hotel and casino - Fort Stotsenberg Hotel and Casino - before the end of the year.
The call centers led by Cyber City Teleservices Inc., IntelliRisk Management Corporation (IRMC), Sutherland Global Services, Inc. are also in need of more call center workers. Sutherland is expected to be formally inaugurated by Arroyo on December 15 this year.
