37,000 jobs are available
in Qatar, says Arroyo

BY REGINA BENGCO

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday said only a "few" overseas Filipino workers would be displaced due to the global financial crisis and that there are actually more job openings waiting for them in the Middle East.

Arroyo has been in Qatar since Saturday holding bilateral talks with Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to ensure fuel supply, look into the status of OFWs in that country and the Middle East, and to enlist Qatar’s help in the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Arroyo said the Emir told her about the Additional Protocol to the 1997 RP-Qatar Agreement on the Regulation of Filipino Manpower Employment in the State of Qatar which was signed October 19 by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and Qatar Minister of Labor Sultanbin Hassan Al Dhabit Al-Dosari.

She said the protocol enforces regulations on the protection of OFWs in Qatar, including provisions for additional benefits and a forum that would address the complaints of expatriate workers such as contract substitution.

Roque said there are 190,000 OFWs in Qatar, making it the fourth biggest destination of Filipino workers worldwide and the third in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In a meeting with the Filipino community at the Sheraton Doha Hotel and Resort Saturday evening, Arroyo said that Qatar needs 37,000 more workers, which she said offsets the number of displaced workers in other countries.

Some 1,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan were retrenched recently, while 5,000 others are reportedly expected to lose their jobs.

Arroyo said oil-rich Middle East countries, especially Qatar, do not feel the global economic pinch and continue to boost their foreign workers to fill the needs of their booming economy.

In preparation for the global crisis, the government has launched a P250 million Filipino Livelihood Support Fund to help displaced OFWs pursue their studies or engage in livelihood projects.

Arroyo, in a meeting with Philippine ambassadors in the Middle East, was assured that OFWs in the region will not be affected by the global crisis.

Esteban Conejos, Foreign Affairs undersecretary for migrant workers, told Arroyo that the Philippines should not yet lift the deployment ban in Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria and Jordan despite the job opportunities because of security reasons.

Arroyo directed special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu to assess the situation in those countries and determine by March if the deployment ban could be lifted.

Arroyo also ordered the implementation of the labor protocol between the Philippines and Jordan, particularly the provision on the $400 minimum wage.

The Philippines will also open an embassy in Syria in February, which will be headed by Ambassador Wilfredo Cuyugan. It will serve 15,000 OFWs, 80 percent of whom are undocumented.

Arroyo, in a lunch with top officials of 27 Qatar-based companies that employ Filipinos, thanked them for hiring Filipino workers and protecting their rights and ensuring their privileges.

Among the leading companies represented in the luncheon meeting were the US-based engineering giant Bechtel Corporation, Al Ahli Hospital, Sterling Group of Companies, Midmac Contracting, and Doha Resort and Convention Center.

Laremy Estrada, chief executive officer and project manager of Bechtel Doha, said 65 percent of Bechtel’s workers in the construction of the new $2.5-billion Doha International Airport are Filipinos.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said despite the global economic crisis, major Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, mostly contact center operators, are still aggressively recruiting new staff.

It said at least 23 BPO providers are still hiring new personnel, mainly contact center agents as well information-technology and administrative support staff.

"A number of BPO providers are drafting additional staff on account of expansion, while others are requiring fill-in personnel due to attrition, or the loss of employees," said TUCP secretary general and former senator Ernesto Herrera.

Among the firms enlisting new staff are Aegis PeopleSupport Inc., Affiliated Computer Services Inc., APAC Customer Services Inc., Convergys Philippines Services Corp., Dell International Services Philippines Inc., Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., eTelecare Global Solutions Inc., Hinduja TMT Ltd., HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines Inc. and ICT Marketing Services Inc.

JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. Philippine Customer Care Center, NCO Group Inc., NuComm International Inc., PeopleTalk Contact Solutions Inc., Stellar Global Solutions Inc., Synnex-Concentrix Corp., Telephilippines Inc., TeleTech Holidngs Inc., Telus International Philippines Inc., VXI Global Solutions Inc., West Contact Services Inc. and WinSource Solutions Inc. are all also still looking for new staff.

Herrera said APAC is recruiting 1,000 agents and support staff, including those meant for deployment to a new contact center Tacloban City.

He said Deutsche Knowledge Services is recruiting 900 financial, business and accounting associates to provide back office support to its global financial operations.

ICT Marketing Services is hiring 400 agents, including those meant for deployment to a new contact center in Cabanatuan City.

Most of the firms require only two years of college education or "some college" for prospective agents, Herrera said.

High school graduates with exceptional English or foreign language skills could readily qualify for employment, he said.

The TUCP said a number of BPO providers have a "desperate need" for contact center agents or back office staff with bilingual or multilingual skills.

Among them are PeopleSupport, Convergys, Synnex and Telephilippines. They are scouting for full-time or part-time staff that can speak Spanish, Cantonese, French or Japanese.

WinSource is also looking for electronic mail support agents who can write in Spanish, Korean or Japanese, as well as outbound contact center agents who can speak Mandarin, Spanish, Korean or Japanese.