To those affected by the financial crisis, DOLE is now helping those people to cope up with the problem. They are setting up 24/7 hotline that can help people find job openings in the Philippines. Please read whole article below.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has activated a local and global hotline to assist workers affected by the global financial crisis.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the Hotline is available on a 24/7 basis at hotline no. [632] 527-4337.

“The vital hotline is for the purpose of responding to all pertinent queries from all sectors on available assistance to affected workers, along with ongoing interventions under the supervision of the DOLE’s Global Financial Crisis (GFC) Task Force, to assist the workers affected by the global financial crisis.”

This developed as the Labor Chief led the country’s 3+ Social Partners (or labor, management, government, global organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, and other sectors) in zeroing in on the need to assist affected local and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Roque convened the Multi-Sectoral Action Conference and Workshop on the Global Financial Crisis on the theme, “Responding to the Employment Challenge,” at the Ichikawa Hall of the DOLE’s Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC).

In his message, Roque disclosed that the DOLE has allotted a P402.852 million fund to assist the workers displaced by the crisis, which has so far affected some 33,000 workers who are beginning to experience shorter working hours in affected industries, along with some 40,000 others who have been displaced, along with some 5,404 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been displaced.

Nonetheless, the Labor Chief cited that in 2008, the country’s labor market has remained resilient, with nationwide employment expanding by 1.6% or a net addition of 530,000 employed persons in the labor force mainly in the services, and agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors, offsetting the hard-hit industry sector which contracted by -1.5%. He earlier said that the global deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) surged to a record 1.376 million in 2008

Roque strongly urged the 3+ Social Partners to work together as one in standing up to the global financial crisis. He said that together, they must work to assist affected workers, adding that the opportunities must also be identified as they arrive at the necessary commitments and timelines, and deliver assistance to affected workers.

He apprised them that the DOLE has now successfully assisted to-date a total of 4,460 affected workers as follows: 613 provided with emergency employment assistance, 965 with job referrals, 1,007 with legal assistance on their money claims, 422 with skills training, and 1,453 with livelihood assistance/seed capitalization.

Last 2008, the ofw deployment of Filipinos worldwide has been outstanding and made a large increase in our economy. Job openings have been good for the last year.

The total global deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) surged to more than 1.376 million in more than 190 host destinations worldwide in 2008, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today reported.

At the same time, Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that notwithstanding the global financial crisis, global OFW remittances to the country’s economy reached US$15 billion in the first 11 months (January to November) of 2008.

Roque cited a preliminary report of the DOLE’s Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that a total of 1,376,823 OFWs were deployed worldwide in the entire 2008, representing a growth of 27.8 percent compared to the 1,077,623 OFWs deployed in 2007.

Roque was apprised by the POEA that on a daily basis, some 3,772 documented OFWs were deployed globally in 2008, adding that the more than 1.376 million OFWs deployed worldwide represents 137.7 percent of the country’s one million annual OFW deployment goal.

Meanwhile, the Labor Chief cited the latest update of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that the $15 billion remitted by the OFWs to the country’s economy from January to November 2008 is 15.1 percent higher than the level recorded in the comparable period in 2007.

The BSP emphasized that the continued demand for professional and skilled OFWs in overseas economies substantially contributed to the sustained dollar remittance flows to the country in 2008.

Meanwhile, Roque said that the potential effects of the continuing global economic slowdown on deployment could be mitigated by the strong labor demand in host countries like Canada, Bulgaria, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The DOLE, through its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in more than 30 strategic host destinations worldwide, continues to conduct marketing missions and employment facilitation programs to widen the productive opportunities for Filipino workers both in the local and global spheres.

Roque earlier indicated that the DOLE’s overseas employment facilitation efforts will complement the country’s responses to cushion and mitigate the effects of the ongoing global crisis on OFWs.

It is a bad news for every Filipinos as more and more of our fellow men are being laid off from their job. Inquirer published the news this morning and here is a snippet of that news. Living in this age is tough. Looking for job openings Philippines is tough. What else isn’t?

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 23,485 Filipinos here and abroad have lost their jobs as a direct result of the global financial crisis, the Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday.

Since the crisis started taking its toll in October, 19,443 workers have lost jobs in the Philippines and 4,042 overseas, department spokesman Jay Julian said.

Among the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), “most of those who lost their jobs abroad are from Taiwan,” he said. OFW job cuts attributed to the crisis were also reported in South Korea, Macau, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Russia, Poland and Australia, he added.

In the Philippines, 33,936 workers have been asked to take flexible work hours as a way of coping with the crisis, Julian said.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Tuesday that 6,233 of its members had been directly affected by economic downturn — 2,933 were laid off and 3,300 were given flexible hours.

“This is separate from the government figures. We are doing our own headcount,” TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar said.

When asked whether the TUCP, one of the biggest labor groups in the Philippines, had an estimate of total job losses in the next couple of months, Aguilar said, “We are not in a position to make any projections.”

Most of the workers affected are in the garments, electronics and furniture industries, Aguilar said. “We lost a union in Cebu and three factories closed shop in Valenzuela, all in the furniture business,” he said.

The TUCP was calling on the labor department to fast-track its short-term and long-term safety-net programs for displaced workers, the spokesman added.

It welcomes a tripartite summit — with the government, the employer sector and the labor sector to be represented—that has been called by the labor department for this Thursday and Friday.

“This summit is important so that we are able to generate information and data on how many were really affected,” Julian said. “It is important that everyone is on the same page.”

Source: Inquirer.net

In this hard times and global financial crisis, what can an average Filipino do to survive? Maybe its time for the media to suggest something rather than spreading the bad news that can hurt every Filipino’s morale in living. What do you think?