LABOR Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma yesterday said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has finished the profiling of around 30,000 Filipino workers who are expected to be displaced by the closure of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hubs by the end of the year.
The profiling of workers is aimed at assessing their skills, wages received, and job descriptions to know if they need to undergo upskilling, retraining, or training under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Laguesma, during the Senate hearing on the proposed 2025 budget request of the DOLE, said the profiling would help the department in assisting the workers in finding new jobs.
He said the DOLE said it got the names of the workers from POGO firms.
He said labor representatives would visit POGO companies that have yet to submit the names of their Filipino workers, but would not force those that do not want to share their manpower’s list.
“Hindi naman siguro pupuwersahin. Ipapaliwanag lang sa kanila ang kahalagahan na sila ay makipag-cooperate para ang mga manggagawa nila na maaaring ma-dislocate ay mabigyan namin ng karampatang pagtulong (We will not force them. We will just explain the importance of their cooperation, which is so the government can help the displaced Filipino workers look for jobs),” Laguesma told senators.
Laguesma said that there are around 40,000 Filipinos working in POGO facilities who stand to lose their jobs following the order of President Marcos Jr. banning the operation of POGOs in the country.
The President ordered the shutdown of the offshore gaming industry during his State of the Nation Address last July, noting the growing number of crimes related to the industry.
Laguesma said
Laguesma said the DOLE intends to complete the profiling of Filipino POGO workers by September.
In a television interview, Laguesma said a job fair is scheduled within the month exclusively for the benefit of POGO workers who are at risk of losing their jobs.
“We will not wait for the last two minutes. We will likely be holding a job fair within the month. We will start offering this assistance to those who want to avail them,” he said.
The labor chief said they will cascade the information on the job fair to POGO companies.
Laguesma said they believe that most of the workers can be accommodated by the information technology—business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry since the sector “has the most need for workers that are tech savvy or techie.” — With Gerard Naval
