China hiring thousands of PH workers, says Diokno

Thousands of Filipino workers, including domestic helpers and English-language teachers, are expected to find employment in mainland China amid closer ties between Manila and Beijing, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said on Monday.

Diokno said China was willing to hire overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including an initial 10,000 domestic helpers who would be employed under a government-to-government arrangement.

Since hiring would not be through third-party recruitment agencies, Filipino workers were expected to get “much better” pay rates, Diokno said.

Expatriates

The Filipino domestic helpers would work for expatriates (mostly Westerners) in big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai.

“In fact, the fear of some people is that those who are working now in Hong Kong will transfer to [mainland] China because the terms will be much, much higher,” he said at the Pandesal Forum.

China would also be an alternative to the Middle East as an OFW destination amid geopolitical tensions in the region, according to Diokno.

The budget chief said the hiring of Filipino domestic helpers in China would likely be facilitated by the Department of Labor and Employment.

Diokno said China was also looking at hiring more English-language teachers from the Philippines.