ALMOST 15,000 jobs are up for grabs in the Visayas and Mindanao as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is set to hold a job fair to cater to the arriving 62,000 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as well as the workers rendered jobless locally by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Peza, some 2,963 job opportunities will come from the Visayas and 1,503 in Mindanao. There will also be 10,499 slots available for multi-site hiring.
The updated number of vacancies as of Wednesday, July 8, 2020 stood at 14,969. The job fair is scheduled for soft launching on Monday, July 13.
The job fair is a project under Peza’s Development Outreach for Labor, Livelihood and Advancement of Resources (Human Resource, Technical Resource, Natural Resource and Financial Resource) program or Peza Dollar program.
“We will now be launching the first-ever job fair in preparation for the arrival of repatriated OFWs. Our jobless OFWs will be the priority in the said activity but the job fair will likewise be open to unemployed Filipinos,” Peza Director General Charito Plaza said.
“We have gathered data on the job opportunities within Peza’s 4,542 locator companies and 408 economic zones to help our fellowmen get jobs and be able to cope with the effect of the pandemic,” she added.
As of July 6, the total number of projected jobs reached 60,164 nationwide. This include data from Peza clusters reports and the projected employment of the 26 new projects approved by the Peza board.
The Dollar program aims to promote and accelerate industrial, economic and social development of the country so that jobs can be provided for Filipinos, especially among those living in rural areas.
The program will also be fully implemented in coordination with its ecozones, local government units, locators and industry associations in the coming months.
“Once we are able to finalize the procedure for the program and Dollar Job Fair online job search platform in our website, we will implement the job fair using both physical and virtual avenues with strict observance of the quarantine measures. This is just one of the many ways we can help our country and fellowmen cope with the effect of the pandemic. We can make it through with our Bayanihan spirit,” Plaza said.
Peza said it is also coordinating with Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go for a possible partnership for the program.
According to a report, a total of 2,068 establishments had closed down during the Covid-19 health crisis, displacing 69,022 workers as of June. The Labor Department also said some 321,000 OFWs were also affected by the Covid-19 crisis, and that 191,000 had opted to stay “where they are now.” (JOB with PR)