MB Job Fair brings hope of employment to returning OFW

Among the more than 1,300 applicants who trooped to the Manila Bulletin Classifieds Job Fair (MB Job Fair) last March 13 at the SM North EDSA Skydome in Quezon City, most of whom were eager college graduates hoping to land their first job, was 59-year old Antonio Sales.

He used to work in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After the country started implementing its Saudi nationalization scheme, or ‘Saudization’, Sales was forced to come home after finishing his employment contract. He joined many other Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who had to comply with the country’s policy of filling work vacancies with Saudi nationals.

Sales worked abroad as a baker for almost 15 years. Through his sacrifice, hard work and perseverance, he was able to send his only daughter to study at one of the country’s premier state universities.

While most would see this as the completion and fulfillment of a Filipino father’s obligations to his family – and therefore a solid reason to retire - Sales has decided that he wants to continue working. He said he prefers to stay busy, believing that being idle at home is unhealthy and might make him prone to illness. He also said that what keeps him persistent in finding work at his age is his desire to prove to local companies that employees in his age group still have a lot to contribute to the workforce.

He is hopefulthat the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or R.A. 10911, which promotes equal opportunities of employment to everyone and prohibits arbitrary age limitations in employment, will compel local companies to comply with employing individuals based on abilities, knowledge, skills and qualifications rather than judging them by their age.

“There are a lot of 60-year-old, qualified employees who want to work here in the Philippines. But because of the age bracket being implemented by some companies, we’re losing the chance to prove that we are still fit to work,” he said.

For Sales, the MB Job Fair gave everyone the opportunity to meet several employers and consider employment in different industries, all in one location, all on the same day.