Organizers: Decrease in applicants in job fair may be a “good indication”

CEBU, Philippines -  While almost 19,000 job vacancies were offered in the local and overseas job fair yesterday spearheaded by the Cebu City Government, only 37 out of 165 job applicants were hired on the spot.

But organizers think that this may be a good indication that job seekers have already found jobs over the summer, considering that it's a month for job fairs.

"Maybe it's a good indication (decreased number of applicants). Basin many were hired na kay naa man sad nag job fair karon sa SM Consolacion. And this month is a jobs fair month man," Executive Director Ludy Marie Lawas of School of Knowledge for Industrial Labor, Leadership, and Service.

SKILLS Center is a training and assessment center accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and run by the Primary Structures Educational Foundation Inc., which was the partner of the Cebu City Government in the activity.

Department of Manpower Development and Placement chief Suzanne Ardosa said there were 38 employers for local companies and 18 agencies for overseas.

Local companies included call centers, hotels, construction, trade industry, and others.

Ardosa said most of the available jobs overseas are in Canada, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Suriname, Bahrain, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In demand jobs abroad are for engineers, heavy equipment operators, machine operators, nurses, office assistants, delivery men, carpenters, foremen, laborers, masons, plumbers, welders, among others.

Lawas said the 37 hired applicants were for local job opportunities.

This is the second jobs fair in partnership with the foundation and Department of Manpower Development and Placement of Cebu City.

Lawas said in August last year, a total of 60 were hired on the spot for local jobs while 440 were waiting for employer's approval for overseas.

SKILLS provide technical vocational training to the Filipino community and help them become globally competent workers.

Lawas said the price of their training ranges from P3,000 to P30,000, depending on the course plus they also help their graduates be employed after the training.

One of the applications, Samson Dabalos, 56, has worked for 12 years in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Texas as a welding foreman. Dabalos joined the job fair in hope of landing another job overseas.

He said he's trying his luck in the jobs fair since he was not hired in the previous ones. (FREEMAN)