Qatar preparations for World Cup present opportunities for Filipino workers: Dole

UP TO 150,000 overseas Filipinos workers may be hired in Qatar in the next seven years as the country undertakes a massive preparation for its hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said.

While the demand is big, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the need will come from the skilled and the professional fields. She later called on interested workers to get a national certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

“We at the Dole don’t advise the untrained, unskilled or even the domestic Filipino workers, and other related vulnerable workers to try their luck in Qatar, or anywhere else. We urge them to get qualified by continuous training, so they can command better pay,” the secretary said in a report from the government’s Official Gazette.

Baldoz also advised workers to get sufficient experience before going abroad as this plus skills can “ensure added protection.”

Doha-based labor attache Leopoldo de Jesus said Qatar’s public and private expenditure is pegged at around $125 billion in preparation of the FIFA World Cup, with an estimated need for a million overseas workers.

The demand, according to de Jesus, will be coming from transport, road development, sewage, real estate and energy.

De Jesus said Qatar is planning a $40-billion national integrated rail network together with a new $11-billion airport and $5.5-billion deep-water seaport. The railway project alone will employ 20,000 to 35,000 workers.

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