ASIDE from American and Saudi Arabian companies, Japanese employers are also looking to hire overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that have been displaced by the military conflict in Sudan.
In an online press briefing, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said that a group of Japanese employers has expressed interest in hiring OFWs, including those repatriated from Sudan.
"We met with Japanese officials and employers yesterday and they said they are in need of additional foreign workers. I said we have some 600 plus OFWs from Sudan, who are willing to relocate their jobs," said Olalia.
"The Japanese employers immediately said they are prepared to welcome our OFWs," he added.
Being an aging population, he said one prefecture in Japan said they are in need of more nurses and caregivers.
On the other hand, Olalia said another prefecture said they are open to hiring in the construction, assembly, automotive, hotel industries.
"They are looking to hire additional OFWs in Japan under the TITP (Technical Internship Training Program) and SSW (Special Skilled Worker program)," said Olalia.
"We are already using both tracks (TITP and SSW) in sending workers to Japan," he added.
On Thursday, DMW Secretary Susan Ople said that employers in the United States (US) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are interested to see the profiles of OFWs from Sudan.
Redeployment to another host country is one of the assistance programs offered by the DMW to OFWs repatriated from Sudan.
According to Olalia, those interested to be redeployed abroad are advised to return to the Philippines.
"It is highly recommended that they go home first in order for them to be documented properly by the DMW as a documented OFW when they seek work abroad," he said.
Once they are back home, Olalia said the OFWs simply have to declare in their reintegration forms their interest in getting redeployed overseas.
He assured the OFWs that they will be contacted by the DMW for their redeployment opportunity.
"We will call them, tell them if there is an available job, and if they are interested, we will endorse them for the job," said Olalia. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)