The number of displaced workers overseas and in the Philippines has soard to 40,000 since October up to January, the Overseas Workers Employment Administration (OWWA) said at the weekend. OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said on Friday that of that figure, 33,017 were retrenched from local companies in the Cavite Export Processing Zone and 5, 036 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were displaced in 10 countries around the world. In a list OWWA provided to reporters, Taiwan topped the list with 4,140, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 298, Alberta in Canada with 180, Macau with 152, Australia with 81, Korea with 74, Brunei with 69, Czech Republic with 19, United Kingdom with 16 and Poland with 7. Laid off workers were from manufacturing, electronics, automotive and garment sectors, according to the labor department. Japanese-owned companies were not spared by the global financial crisis. Mitsumi, one of the biggest makers of computers, had retrenched some 4,400 workers in Bataan and Cebu recently. Its Bataan plant laid off 2, 400 employees while its Cebu factory displaced 4,000 employees.
