THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday reported a 15 percent hired-on-the-spot (HOTS) rate during the 2025 Labor Day Job Fair held in 70 sites across the country on May 1, with 2,550 participating employers offering some 260,706 jobs.
In a phone interview, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that over 5,700 job seekers gained employment after participating in the simultaneous job fairs held in celebration of Labor Day.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) also conducted a job fair in Quezon City, where 84 applicants were deemed eligible for work overseas.
“Out of more than 2,000 applicants, 84 were qualified for overseas employment,” said DMW pre-employment placement bureau director Rosemarie Duquez, adding that over 2,000 were also found to have advanced to further interviews.
Laguesma said that at the DOLE job fairs nationwide, there were around 37,200 job seekers and according to the report, as of yesterday, there were 5,782 HOTS.
He said top HOTS positions were production operators, production workers, cashiers, service crews, baggers, teachers, housekeeping workers, store clerks, and sales associates.
Aside from being hired instantly, Laguesma said the HOTS were provided free X-rays and other medical tests through the Department of Health mobile clinics in the job fair sites.
Some 12,323 job seekers availed of the one-stop shop documentary services from the National Bureau of Investigation, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and PNP.
Duquez said that during the DMW Labor Day Job Fair, more than 4,700 overseas job orders were offered to job seekers. There were 2,000 applicants and of this, 84 qualified for employment overseas.
“The remaining numbers failed to satisfy the requirements prescribed by the employers,” said Duquez.
A total of 11 licensed recruitment agencies offered both land-based and sea-based overseas employment opportunities.
