POEA: Health workers deployment cap raised to 7,000
Although demand is higher, the deployment cap for health care workers (HCWs) has been raised to only 7,000 this year, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
POEA deputy administrator Villamor Ventura Plan said the demand for Filipino nurses and other HCWs continues to increase amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Actually, the demand from different countries of destination is increasing. For example, the United Kingdom needs many nurses and caregivers. This is the same with Germany and Japan,” Plan said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Saturday.
“But we have to consider also our personal demands here in the Philippines so we still have a little deployment (cap to follow). Only
up to 7,000 nurses and HCWs can be deployed,” he added.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had previously increased the annual deployment limit of new HCW hiring to 7,000 for 2022.
The government is imposing a temporary deployment cap to ensure that the country has sufficient number of HCWs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Plan said.
However, he said the deployment for other Filipino professionals and skilled workers is open and without a cap.
He noted that the country’s overseas employment, especially the seafaring industry, is now recovering from the adverse impact of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the POEA posted the most in-demand jobs in the Middle East and other parts of the globe.
These are in the field of health industry – doctors, nurses and other related fields; construction and maintenance (in demand in the Middle East), particularly in engineering such as civil, mechanical and electrical engineers and skilled workers like masons, estimators, foreman, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, welders and technicians;
Hospital-related fields – hotel or restaurant, travel or airline workers, chefs, service crews room attendants and others;
English teachers; factory workers; and in agricultural industry such as farmers, gardeners and others.
The POEA said advanced countries want to hire Filipino workers due to their ability to work and can easily adopt foreign languages.
On Saturday, 308 departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for Middle East countries lined up at the Gulf Air flight GF 157 counters after the government eased travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers.
Most of the OFWs, composed of returning skilled workers such as engineers, teachers, construction workers, domestic helpers and health workers, were seen at the Gulf Air counters as early as 1 p.m. for their 4:30 p.m. flight.
Evacuation plan
In another development, recruitment and migration expert Manny Geslani yesterday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to prepare evacuation plans for some 380 Filipinos living in Ukraine as hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could break out anytime, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has warned.
In Poland, OFWs are advised to be on alert if the conflagration breaks out in Ukraine as Poland shares a border with Ukraine and being a NATO member is under obligation to commit its military in case NATO comes to the rescue of Ukraine.
There are around 8,000 OFWs in factories and manufacturing plants in Poland who find the working condition in that country good and fair. – Mayen Jaymalin, Rudy Santos