Manila Times/Manila
More Filipino workers were hired and re-hired by Saudi Arabia despite its “Saudization” policy meant to pressure local firms to hire Saudis instead of migrant workers, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Based on POEA data, 325,709 Filipino workers were deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2012, 2.8% higher than the 316,736 hired by the kingdom in 2011.
The kingdom is the biggest hirer of Filipinos. Currently, 1.5mn Filipinos are working in various industries such as agriculture, fishery, forestry, transportation, construction and many others. According to POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, the new labour policy imposed by the Saudi government has had no impact on the deployment of Filipino migrant workers. Cacdac told Manila Times that the new labour scheme would not have an immediate impact on the global labour market. “There’s no dramatic drop or increase,” he said.
The Saudi nationalization scheme or Nitaqat in Arabic directs companies to prioritise Saudi nationals in employment as part of the kingdom’s goal of creating a domestic labour force and to address the country’s unemployment problem. The programme took effect in June 2011.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday said almost 50,000 jobs are available in the Middle East and more than half of these are in Saudi Arabia.
Data released by POEA and JobStreet.com showed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has 28,295 jobs; followed by Qatar, 8,230; United Arab Emirates, 5,169; Abu Dhabi, 1,806; Dubai, 1,777; Kuwait, 1,721; Bahrain, 1,422; and Oman with 1,326. Singapore meanwhile has 929 job openings and Papua New Guinea, 559. These countries are looking for household service workers, drivers, dispatchers and messengers. They also need mechanical/automotive engineers (9,221), general engineers (8,196), nurses and medical support staff (4,966), staff for manufacturing operations (5,901), food/beverage/restaurant personnel (5,324), civil/construction engineers (4,785), electrical engineers (3,848), maintenance and repair personnel (1,951) and clerical/administrative support staff (1,675).
Last year, 155,831 household service workers were deployed, followed by nurses, 15,655, waiters/bartenders, 14,892; wiremen/electricians, 10,575; workers/cleaners, 10,493; labourers/helpers, 9,987; plumbers/pipe fitters, 9,657; caregivers, 9,128; welders/flame cutters, 8,213 and cooks, 6,344.