Taiwan allots more jobs for OFWs

The Council of Labor Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has decided to provide an extra quota of more than 1,400 for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) under the special hiring program between the Philippines and Taiwan.

Ambassador Hsin-Hsing Wu, representative of Taiwan, bared this development in a letter to the Philippine’s Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas for active implementation of the new project.

The new measure is designed to help create more job opportunities for Filipinos and is hoped to substantially contribute to the realization of President Arroyo’s 10-point reform agenda, which includes the generation of six million jobs, among others.

Once the project is carried out efficiently through the direct hiring method, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office will propose to the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to provide more quota in the hiring of OFWs.

According to December 2004 statistics, documented Filipino workers in Taiwan have reached roughly 91,000, most of whom are working in factories engaged in electronics and computers.

OFWs working in machineries are estimated at 55,000, while caretakers number about 33,000 and domestic helpers, 1,500.

Around 600 Filipinos work as fishermen and 400 in construction. OFWs are the second most numbered workers in Taiwan after Thais.

Taiwanese employers are said to prefer hiring Filipinos as they are known to be hardworking and skillful.