DOLE: Pinoy workers can still apply for jobs in Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines - Highly skilled Filipino workers could still apply for jobs in Taiwan despite the hiring freeze, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Taiwanese employers have expressed their desire to wait for Filipino workers until the dispute between the Philippines and Taiwan is finally resolved.

“Some recruitment agencies informed me that they have been receiving feedback that employers are eagerly awaiting the resolution of the dispute because they want to hire Filipino workers,” she said.

Baldoz said she met with members of recruitment agencies deploying Filipino workers to Taiwan to discuss the impact of the hiring freeze.

She said the DOLE and the recruitment agencies agreed to set up a help desk at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to answer queries and provide assistance to displaced workers from Taiwan.

Baldoz said the help desk would provide legal assistance to those with legitimate claims from their recruiters and employers as well as livelihood and entrepreneurial development assistance and referral for local and overseas employment.

“I tasked the help desk to produce a profile of OFWs (overeas Filipino workers) returning from Taiwan, including their principals, employers, and deploying agencies, and to provide the DOLE secretary accurate and updated information on their number, skills and qualifications, and if possible, their occupational inclination or plans upon their return, so we can better direct and focus our assistance to them,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz also instructed the OWWA, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Professional Regulation Commission, National Maritime Polytechnic, National Labor Relations Commission, National Reintegration Center for OFWs, Bureau of Local Employment, Labor Communications Office, International Labor Affairs Bureau, Planning Service and Human Resource Development Service to lend technical support and advice to the help desk for Taiwan OFWs.

She said the government has yet to determine the actual number of workers affected by the hiring freeze.

Baldoz said Taiwan has only stopped processing the visas of newly hired workers.

“Because of the conflicting data, we opted to set up a mechanism together with the recruitment industry which can provide us the information because they are in charge of applying visas so they know how many were delayed in the issuance or rejected,” she said.