The prevailing economic slump has forced more Filipinos to seek work abroad.
The hiring of Filipino workers abroad went up sharply in the eight months of the year, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported yesterday.
Preliminary data from the POEA showed that the number of Filipinos deployed in various countries from January to August increased by 26.9 percent compared to the same period last year.
Based on the POEA data, a total of 806,335 Filipino workers left for employment abroad during the period. The figure was 171,054 more than the 635,281 Filipinos hired abroad in 2007.
Outgoing POEA chief Rosalinda Baldoz noted that new hires went up by 14 percent from a total of 237,980 last year to 271,283 in the first eight months of 2008. Rehires, on the other hand, recorded a 12- percent decline.
However, POEA records also revealed a slight decrease of 2.4 percent in the number of overseas employment contracts processed during the covered period.
From a total 818,325 contracts processed in 2007, the POEA reported a total of 798,944 this year.
Land-based workers still accounted for the biggest bulk of workers deployed abroad with a total of 582,837 compared to 236,107 sea-based workers who went abroad.
The local recruitment industry, earlier, warned of a possible decline in the number of workers seeking jobs abroad due to the depreciating value of dollar. Most OFWs and their families are reported to be reeling from the dollar depreciation.
But Baldoz expressed confidence that the country would continue to deploy more than a million overseas Filipino workers this year due to the opening of new markets.
Baldoz added that more Filipino workers opt to work overseas because it is the only way to get a high-paying job and help their families meet their daily needs.