Over 6,000 jobs up for grabs in career fair
Cebu continues to provide a promising job market as local and multi-national companies come toeto-toe in trying to be the first to win or hire the best personnel for their operations.
Cebu's largest online job portal Mynimo.com registered a surge in hiring demand this year, with over 6,000 job vacancies for both local and overseas employment.
"Cebuanos don't have to leave the country to look for jobs. Fortune 500 companies in the world are even setting up their offices here. The job market in Cebu is much more alive now," said Mynimo.com president and chief executive officer (CEO) Wesley Chiongbian.
Chiongbian's company, which holds an annual job fair every month of May, dubbed "Happy Jobs Fair," noted that there is a surge of employment demand this year, with actual growth of 20 percent, compared to last year.
According to Chiongbian, due to tight competition, local companies are learning to value their manpower pool by providing competitive and attractive pay offers to be able to retain them.
Chiongbian announced the holding of the one-day "Happy Jobs Fair 2015," this coming May 30 at SM City Cebu.
"Over 70 employers have already signed up and more are still expected to join, offering at least 6,300 job vacancies," said Chiongbian.
While Cebu has started to attract back-office-operation from big and Fortune 500 companies, like UnitedHealth Group, JP Morgan & Chase MercedesBenz Group Services, skill requirement and professional background and line of expertise widened while these companies are not servicing mainly customer service support, ut other backoffice jobs like accounting, human resource, claims (for insurance and financial companies) and other administrative works.
"The high-paying overseas jobs are coming to us. As long as you have the skills these companies need, you won’t have to go abroad to support the family," said Chiongbian.
Overseas demand on the other hand is more on vocational skilled workers like technicians, plumber, engineers, machine operators, construction workers, hotel staff.
Of the over 6,000 job vacancies, 3,800 are for overseas employers, and about 2,500 are for local placements specifically highpaying BPOs, Chiongbian said.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) assistant director Joel Gonzales confirmed Chiongbian's assessment on the actual job mart in Cebu, saying the upswing economy in Cebu and its charm to multinational companies continues to give Cebuano professionals wider options for career choices and employment opportunities.
Over 6,000 applicants have already registered online for the upcoming job fair. About 60 percent of them are college graduates and almost 80 percent have work experience.