The Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) is recalibrating its strategies for the market reentry of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the pandemic through niching that highlights their strengths in the global workforce.
In a forum organized by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) last week, POEA director Levinson Alcantara cited the contribution of OFWs to the economy in terms of remittances.
“As we grow in deployment and we recover, hopefully we can also recover in terms of remittances that (help) our economy which is almost equal in significance in terms of dollar value to that of our business process outsourcing (BPOs) industry,” Alcantara said.
In 2020, dollar remittances from all overseas Filipinos reached $30 billion, just a billion dollars more than those generated by BPOs.
Rather than focus on destinations, POEA is looking at industries in each of the labor markets for opportunities that are not country-specific.
“We are recalibrating our strategies …we’re looking at market reentry strategies, labor markets niching for what’s left of our OFWs….what are the skills and tools that they need so that they can they can reenter the market and which labor markets are indeed opening up,” said Alcantara.
Alcantara said demand for professional healthcare workers will remain strong within the next decade especially that prior to the pandemic, the graying economies have had a need for the profession. Requirements have in fact doubled, or even tripled.
“Some (countries) are scrambling to have bilateral labor agreements are with us, because there’s a mission critical skill listing that actually restricts the deployment of health care workers,” Alcantara said.
The POEA sees medical specializations including pharmaceuticals, epidemiology, occupational safety and health trainers, as well as wellness officers to be in demand.
Alcantara also sees occupations connected to transport and logistics like trucking, hauling, delivery of parcels and shipping to continue to be in sought-after worldwide.
Alcantara said also in demand are occupations that are aligned with the redesigning of work and living spaces to avoid the spread of the virus as well as jobs in greener and sustainable developments such as engineers, architects, as well as technicians in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, sanitation and maintenance.
Alcantara noted seafaring professionals, especially for vessels that move goods, bulk and cargo and even fuels will continue to be in demand as a changing world will depend on the unhampered delivery of raw materials, supplies, and other essential inputs for manufacturing.
Manufacturing-related work, food, pharmaceuticals, new technologies, contactless, motion and noise sensitivity technologies as well as technology-based professions will see marked increase in takeup.
But Alcantara said treatment of technology-based professionals will have to be looked at.
“There might be grey area on whether (or not) they become local hires or overseas employment because some of them might need to go abroad, or some of them might only go abroad for some months in the entirety of their employment.”
Alcantara noted though the most important factor to take into consideration is how much labor supply is needed in the country.
“We need to balance that with the needs of the global economy that is going to be reshaping the future,” he added.
