The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Thursday reminded people wanting to work overseas, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom, to check first with the agency to avoid being victimized by illegal recruiters. In a statement posted on its website, POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili said job orders approved for the US included not only nurses but also pharmacists and physiotherapists, seasonal workers in hotels, golf courses and resorts as well as information and communication technology workers. Manalili said the US has 13,360 job orders in 2009 and only 876 or 6.5% have been filled up largely because of delay in the processing of visa or getting an immigrant visa known as green card. She said there have been a delay because there are more applicants than the number of visas available. The demand for construction workers was not for the US but for Guam's planned development of a military facility this year, recruitment for which may take a longer time. Also, she said, there no employment prospects for the oil and gas industries in the US so far, belying earlier reports. Manalili warned job applicants to be wary about job offers for dog handlers in Dubai, as earlier reported in some newspapers, because the POEA has not received request for such jobs from the United Arab Emirates. “We will make formal announcements as soon as the job offers are confirmed,” Manalili said. In a separate advisory, the POEA asked overseas jobseekers for the United Kingdom to check first if their prospective employers are accredited or registered under a licensed recruitment agency. Manalili also advised workers to search the website of the British embassy in Manila for details on the new points-based system (PBS), and to verify if the jobs are indeed available in the UK. The POEA explained that under the PBS, the tier-2 work permits, or permits for workers who are citizens of countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), are applied for by employers who need to fill a vacant position with a specific person. To secure this permit, employers must prove that they had advertised the position nationally and failed to find the right person from within the EEA. Employers must also obtain a sponsorship license for foreign workers, for which the POEA advises applicants to ask for before transacting with UK employers. Skilled workers are likewise required to reach at least 70 ‘immigration' points, based on qualifications, prospective earnings, maintenance funds and English language proficiency for entry to the UK. In this light, Manalili warned applicants about the deceptive scheme of some training and learning schools. These schools, she said, target mostly nurses, healthcare professionals and students who are required to finish their course in the said school then given promises that their school will facilitate their employment abroad. Another is the trainee-worker scheme, where workers are recruited and deployed as trainees based on an agreement, even as training and learning schools are not licensed to recruit workers for oversea jobs. Manalili reminded applicants that Britain restricts charging of any placement to persons seeking employment. She stressed that all interested jobseekers should ckeck the veracity of employment opportunities abroad through the POEA website. According to the POEA, the Middle East remains the major labor market for overseas Filipino workers in 2010 as the financial crunch has minimally affected the economies in the region except for Dubai. Saudi Arabia is still a primary destination for OFWs as it embarks on development plans until 2024, including the creation of 12 mega-industrial or economic cities across the kingdom.
