GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia are planning to recruit more than one million individuals from the East Asia nation the Philippines, Arabian business said in a report quoting the Philippines government officials.
UAE, Qatar and Oman are also planning extra recruitment, the report said.
The Philippines News Agency report stated that tourism, hospitality and construction sectors could see extensive recruitment of Filipino workers.
The report said that the country’s Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) ha announced it is in the process of signing a memorandum of cooperation with several countries that are interested in hiring more Filipino healthcare and skilled workers.
Saudi Arabia plans recruitment drive
DMW Undersecretary for Policy and International Cooperation PY Caunan said that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Qatar have expressed intention to hire Filipino workers.
Caunan said that during the last visit of DMW Secretary Susan Ople in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia expressed the intention to hire about 1m Filipinos for new jobs.
Caucan said: “In our meetings we asked them which industries are involved. They said many of these are in the tourism sector such as hotels, restaurants, and resorts that will open in Saudi Arabia.
UAE seeks OFW
The DMW has also scheduled a joint committee meeting with its counterpart in the UAE.
Caunan said: “Expect in the coming weeks that we will be calling a series of meetings and dialogues with different stakeholders including our OFWs to get all the concerns, from the private recruitment agencies, and from our OFWs regarding our deployment in the UAE.”
She added that the UAE already said that it is looking for more skilled workers.
With this development, Caunan said the DMW is looking forward to having a stronger alliance and cooperation with the UAE.
Qatar and Oman
A joint committee meeting between the Philippines and Qatar is also expected to happen in September, while it is also looking forward to having stronger ties with Oman which has also communicated that it has a high demand for workers.