The number of OFWs initially reported laid off was "understated" and do not include those coming home due to non-renewal of their expired foreign employment contracts, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said.

As crisis deepens, more foreign employers could simply not renew job contracts. "This is a form of silent retrenchment. Because if we talk of stable manufacturing and service jobs, as opposed to time-bound projects such as construction activities, foreign employers would normally renew job contacts upon expiry, as long as the business concern remains viable," said TUCP secretary-general and former Senator Ernesto Herrera

"The risk of more OFWs getting squeezed in the job markets abroad and forced to come home definitely increases every extra quarter that the world's major economies stay in recession mode," he added, projecting "reverse migration" should the US and Europe stay in a predicted deep and prolonged economic slump.

OFWs employed by semiconductor firms in Taiwan are particularly vulnerable due to the high operating cost structure in that country.

The world's two largest contract chipmakers, both based in Taiwan, have already initiated aggressive labor cost-cutting strategies due to collapsing global sales.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has told its employees to take five days of unpaid leave every month starting this month. United Microelectronics Corp. staff has been instructed to prepare for a four-day workweek.

Semiconductors are used mainly in discretionary consumer electronic products that tend to get hit first in terms of rapid sales decline as households curb spending due to rising unemployment and the uncertain economic environment.

DOLE Figures

The Department of Labor and Employment recently reported that more than 1,600 OFWs have already been displaced as a result the global economic crisis. They include:
? 946 workers laid off by manufacturers in Taiwan, including a semiconductor firm that closed shop;
? 300 construction workers retrenched after gaming companies suspended new hotel-casino projects in Macau;
? 200 sailors whose vessels were indefinitely docked due to over-capacity and slowing demand as the crisis dampens global trade;
? Almost 100 workers separated from Italy's hotel industry; and
? 70 workers terminated from Western Australia's shipbuilding industry.
But Herrera said the number of OFWs reported as laid off was "understated" because it does not include those coming home because of the non-renewal of their expired foreign employment contracts.

Landing Pad

Meanwhile he urged DOLE to gather all local firms still hiring new personnel, such as business process outsourcing providers and help them put up recruitment booths for returning OFWs at the country's international ports of entry.

"It is possible that some of the skills of the returning OFWs may be quickly matched with the requirements of a number of local firms. This way, the potential economic dislocation and severance of income is minimized," he said.

If necessary, returning OFWs should be individually referred to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Technology Resource Center for possible alternative livelihood projects or skills retooling.

Even government agencies can put up their own employment booths for returning OFWs at the country's ports of entry, he said, noted that under the 2009 national budget, government is hiring 10,000 new teachers, 2,000 non-teaching staff, 3,000 police officers and 500 jail officers, among other additional staff.

TUCP previously lowered its annual growth target in the amount of remittances sent home by OFWs, from 15 percent to 10 percent, in 2010.