OVER 5,000 jobs as domestic helpers are available due to high vacancies in the country, according to the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE).
Data from the BLE showed the top job vacancy is domestic helpers during the period February 18 to 24, with 5,691 vacancies.
This is followed by the demand for 3,026 call center agents, according to the agency.
There are also 2,779 job vacancies for customer service assistants while sales associate professionals are also in demand with 2,149 job vacancies.
Completing the top five are demands for technical assistants with 1,518 vacancies.
The BLE said the data is based on the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Employment Information System (PEIS) sourced nationwide.
Also serving as a source of information by BLE are those from the government-run job matching portal, PhilJobNet.
More seasonal workers are likely to be deployed to South Korea after the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) extended the coverage of the interim guidelines for deployment under the Seasonal Work Program (SWP).
Under Advisory No. 01-C – 2024, the DMW said more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) recruited under the SWP have been made eligible with the inclusion of those processed before March 1, 2024.
“The Department hereby extends the coverage of the pipeline processing of Filipinos through the SWP bound for the Republic of Korea for those applicants, who received their valid visa and the Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (subject to the final issuance of visa by the Korean embassy) prior to 01 March 2024,” said the DMW.
Previously, the guidelines only declared eligible those whose applications were processed before February 1, 2024.
Still required are those who have been pre-screened by their respective local government units (LGU), said the Department.
The DMW said they also continue to require the completion of pre-departure training or orientation seminars provided by their LGU.
The seasonal workers program allows short-term employment for agricultural workers to address labor shortages during the peak planting and harvesting season in South Korea.
Subsequently, the DMW has received complaints of physical abuse and other labor rights violations from deployed OFWs.
This prompted the DMW to issue a moratorium last January 11 that temporarily stopped the deployment of seasonal workers to South Korea.