SLOVENIA NEEDS 5K FILIPINO WORKERS

AROUND 5,000 job opportunities would soon be made available to skilled and semi- skilled Filipino workers in the Republic of Slovenia, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd on Monday said Slovenia is seeking the Philippine government’s approval for the deployment of between 2,000 to 5,000 Filipino workers to supplement its manpower needs in various industries.

But Bello said the acceptance of application and deployment would only start after the signing of a bilateral labor agreement between the two countries to ensure the protection and rights of Filipino workers.

“I told them ( Slovenian officials) that we first need to sign a bilateral agreement,” he added.

Among those needed are health care workers, nurses, engineers, truck drivers, heavy machine and equipment operators, and household workers.

Bello said the salary in Slovenia is higher compared to other countries.

“The salaries are definitely higher than that of the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia it is around $ 400. In Slovenia, we are looking probably at around P50,000 to P75,000, or about $ 1,000, as long as we can come up with a bilateral agreement and we both agree with the provisions and the template contract,” he added.

A technical working group will be formed to negotiate the terms of the agreement and ensure the protection and safety of the overseas Filipino workers.

“We do not have job orders for Slovenia as of this moment, we are still working on it. We advise the public to wait for the formal announcement that we are starting to accept applications,” the Labor chief said.