In celebration of Labor Day: More than 20,000 jobseekers register for JOBapalooza ’09

More and more new graduates and jobseekers are riding on the wave of opportunity by registering with the country’s biggest jobs fair dubbed “Tayo Na! Trabaho Na! JOBapalooza ’09″ Labor Day approaches, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today reported.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that based on the latest DOLE preliminary report, more than 20,603 jobseekers have already registered for JOBapalooza ’09, which shall be held at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City on May 1, 2009.

More than 1,000 local firms and overseas recruiters would offer more than 250,000 productive job opportunities to new graduates and jobseekers.

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m., the main Labor Day program will commence at 9:00 a.m. at the SMX Hall, followed by the launching of the DOLE Hotline and the reading of Labor Day Manifesto, and the awarding of livelihood and training certificates/vouchers to disadvantaged sectors and workers under various DOLE and government thrusts (WIN AP, DOLE-AMP, Phil-Health, Ye-Ye, PGS, and OWWA).

Simultaneously, a Livelihood Display and Sale, complemented by entrepreneurship slideshows, training/livelihood seminars, and medical missions, will proceed in the area from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The day will be capped by the launch of Hatid Saya (Alay sa Manggagawang Pinoy sa Ibayong Dagat) courtesy of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Trade Unions concert, a spectacular fireworks display in honor of the Filipino worker, and finally, the JOBapalooza ’09 Concert dubbed “Alay sa Manggagawang Pilipino” featuring Gary Valenciano and Rivermaya.

Roque said that JOBapalooza ’09 is a collective offering of the Philippine Labor Movement comprising the country’s labor federations and the country’s Three Plus (3+) Social Partners (which include management, government and other sectors). He cited the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), All Workers Alliance Trade Union (AWATU), Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS), Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW), Philippine Organization of Labor Unions (POLU), and Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), for presenting the Labor Day jobs fair in partnership with major sponsors Globe, Banco de Oro (BDO), SM Shoemart, PHIL-JobNet (www.phil-job.net), JobStreet.com, STI, Philippine Online Chronicles (POC), the City Government of Manila, and the City Government of Pasay City, as well as the DOLE’s National Capital Region (NCR) Office, which is supervising the event.

As this developed, the DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) continues to encourage new graduates and jobseekers to avail of the available opportunities by registering for the JOBapalooza ’09 using the Internet links at http://www.phil-job.net, or the DOLE’s website at http://www.dole.gov.ph. Walk-in applicants are also welcome at the SMX on the Labor Day itself.

Roque emphasized that on top of the main”Tayo Na! Trabaho Na! JOBapalooza ’09,” more job/livelihood fairs will highlight the nationwide Labor Day celebrations in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao areas under the supervision of the DOLE Regional Offices (ROs), at the following tentative venues on May 1, 2009: Region I (Ilocos Region) – SM Rosales, Pangasinan; Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) – Baguio Convention Center/SM Baguio Job Fair; Region II (Cagayan Valley) – Paseo Real, Tuguegarao City (job/trade/livelihood fair) and Faustino L. Dy Gymnasium, Cauayan City (registration of professionals); Region III (Central Luzon) — Pampanga (SM City Pampanga, SM City Clark, SM City Baliuag, and SM City Marilao); Region IV-A (CALABARZON) – SM Sta. Rosa (livelihood fair); Region V (Bicol Region) – SM Naga City; Region VI (Western Visayas) – Robinson’s Place, and Gaisano City, both in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Region VII (Central Visayas) – Cebu City Sports Complex (overseas fair), SM City Cebu Jobs Fair, Provincial Capitol (local fair); Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) – ZC Golden Boys Grille, Nunez Extension, Zamboanga City; Region X (Northern Mindanao) – SM Cagayan de Oro City; Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) – Kidapawan City Gymnasium, South Seas Complex, and KCC Mall of General Santos City; and CARAGA Region – Luciano Convention Center, GP Rosales St., Butuan City.

Good news to more Filipinos and aspiring OFWs new or experienced. It has been confirmed that Qatar has 100000 more jobs open for Filipino workers. The meeting took place in Bohol which confirmed the job opportunity. More info below:

DOLE, Qatar labor officials meet in Bohol; confirm more than 100,000 jobs for OFWs in Qatar

Labor officials from the Philippines and Qatar convened the 1st RP-Qatar Joint Committee Meeting in Bohol recently to strengthen bilateral labor relations and opportunities for both countries, specifically the availability of more than 100,000 jobs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said officials from the two countries discussed the ratification of the Additional Protocol to the RP-Qatar Agreement Concerning Filipino Manpower Employment in Qatar, which the country entered into with the Qatari government in 1997 to provide for the deployment and welfare protection for OFWs in Qatar.

Roque said the two delegations also discussed the employment prospects for OFWs in Qatar. He said Qatar approved a total of 296,787 work visas for OFWs between October 2008 to March 2009 out of which about 190,000 were already filled up, indicating that over 100,000 work visas are still available for OFWs.

The DOLE Chief said that about 85 % of the available jobs for OFWs in the Qatar requires technical and highly-skilled workers in the construction sector.

The Philippine delegation was composed of DOLE Undersecretary Arturo L. Sodusta, Deputy Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Director Albert Q. Valenciano of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and Labor Attaché Vivo V. Vidal.

The Qatar delegation was headed by Deputy Minister Hussain Yousuf Al-Mulla of the Ministry of Labour (MOL) with other MOL officials, namely, Director Khalid Al-Hayder of the Department of International Relations, Mr. Saleh Al-Khaldi of the Legal Department, and Mr. Ibrahim Al-Hail of the Public Relations Department, as members.

The two delegations also agreed to address illegal recruitment and excessive charging of fees by recruitment agencies by actively exchanging needed information involving such cases especially those involving household service workers.

Along this line, Roque said the DOLE proposed that OFWs be required exit clearance prior to their deployment to Qatar as preventive measure against the illegal recruitment of workers to this country.

The DOLE, he added, would also submit its training proposal to the Qatari government for the latter’s cooperation and assistance in training OFWs in line with efforts to ensure adequate supply of skilled workers for manpower requirements of employers in this country.

Meanwhile, the Qatari delegation explained Qatar’s new Sponsorship law. The law provides that in proven cases of abuse of workers such as those involving maltreatment, physical abuse, and non-payment of wages, Qatar’s MOL or its Ministry of Interior or the labor court can allow the workers to transfer to other employers.

If a Filipino worker filed a case in the labor court and the regular court, his/her employer cannot send the worker back the Philippines until the pending claims of the worker are settled.

source: Information and Publication Service

There has been news lately that many people getting scammed and recruited because of job opportunities in the UK. These job opportunities are via the internet and DOLE has warned Filipinos to be very careful. Full story below:

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today warned Filipino workers and Philippine recruitment agencies against recruiters offering jobs in the United Kingdom through email, particularly those requiring applicants to send money as payment for visa and work permit in the light of UK regulations which require personal filing of visa applications at the British Embassy in Manila.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque issued the warning in the wake of the proliferation of fraudulent recruitment through the Internet offering non-existent jobs in the UK.

Roque said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in London has recorded more than 200 emails from job applicants and recruitment agencies in the country requesting for verification of the legality of the job offers they received through the Internet.

He said the applicants received job offers through email with scanned appointment letters, work confirmation, and employment contracts from their supposed UK employers with instruction to the applicants to contact specified travel agencies, immigration firms, and solicitors in the UK who would purportedly assist them in the processing of their work permits and visas.

He said the applicants were subsequently asked to remit a sum of money to a certain account as payment for their work permit, visa processing, and other fees.

He said the job offers were found to be fake, deceptive, and illegal as all visa applications will now be filed at the UK Visa Application Centre of the British Embassy in Manila, adding the application should be done personally by the applicants.

He also said that travel agencies, immigration consultants, recruitment firms, solicitors or barristers, and other agents in the UK are not authorized to act as sponsor of applicants. Neither can they process or apply for working visas in the UK in behalf of the applicants.

Roque likewise noted that even recruitment agencies in the country have been enticed to take recruitment offers in the Internet and to advertise vacancies in their behalf for manpower pooling.

He cited a case involving the Global Logistics & Trading Shipping Co., which posted its job orders and interview schedule at www.workabroad.com.ph under Primeworld Manpower Agency. He said the POLO in London found that Global Logistics is not a licensed UK firm.

London-based Labor Attache Jainal Rasul Jr. also advised Filipino applicants that based on the new UK Points Based System (PBS), only highly skilled professionals would be eligible for work visas in the UK, unless the positions are included in the shortage occupation list.

At present, most of the available semi-skilled, and low-skilled jobs in the UK are no longer open to non-Europeans, particularly in hotels, restaurants, food catering, retail business, construction and manufacturing.

For visa application under the new PBS immigration rule, a work permit is no longer a requirement and has now been replaced by the new sponsorship system. This means that the UK Border Agency (Immigration Office) no longer issues work permits for entry visa purposes.

In place of the work permit, the UK Border Agency issues sponsorship license to UK employers who in turn sends the ‘certificate of sponsorship’ to their qualified candidates or applicants as a requirement for online visa application at the British Embassy in Manila.

Source: Information and Publication Service