The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said more than 7,000 new workers will be employed in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone as three key investment projects start to operate this year.
In 2024, the freeport generated 164,000 workers, an increase of nearly 4.5 percent from 157,000 in 2023.
“It’s possible that Subic will have another 7,000 workers this year,” SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose Alino said during the PTV-4 Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program on Thursday.
A shipbuilding project will hire 15,000 workers within three to five years, with 1,000 hired so far, the SBMA chief said.
US investment firm Cerberus and South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have forged a partnership to revive the shipyard used by Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. within the freeport zone, the Presidential Communications Office said in a press statement in May 2024.
Alino said Japan’s Sanyo Denki has expanded its operations and hired 2,000 to 3,000 workers, and will hire 1,500 more for its factory that produces uninterrupted power supplies, cooling fans, servo amplifiers and stepping motors.
He also cited NIDEC Philippines’ P4.3 billion investment to expand its operations, which will require 5,000 workers. The SBMA earlier said the expansion will cover the production facility of high-accuracy gearbox for the base, arm and shoulder industrial robots in car manufacturing facilities.
