Overseas Filipino workers (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Several European countries are looking to hire more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
“We were told that the demand for OFWs is all over Europe,” Migrant Workers Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan said in a recent press briefing.
These countries include the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Finland, Denmark and Portugal.
She said there is high demand for Filipino health-care workers, caregivers, household workers, housekeepers, workers in tourism-related jobs, and baristas, among others.
Last year, 2,000 OFWs were deployed to the Czech Republic. This year, 10,500 slots are allotted for Filipino workers, said Caunan.
In Hungary, 4,000 OFWs were deployed over a period of 10 years. But last year alone, Hungary received 6,000 OFWs.
“They were impressed with the performance of our workers, their mentality and attitude. That’s what our bilateral partners usually tell us. They said they want more OFWs,” she said.
Caunan said the DMW would establish bilateral labor agreements and “sustainable” recruitment frameworks with European countries to protect the rights and welfare of OFWs.
According to her, about 10 percent or $3.8 billion of the record high $37 billion in remittances from OFWs last year can be attributed to European-based OFWs.
“Given the engagements we are having, we can see that deployment to Europe definitely will increase. For 2024, we are expecting an increasing trend” in remittances, she said.
Recruiters, traffickers
Migrant Workers Officer in charge Hans Cacdac, meanwhile, warned that illegal recruiters and traffickers have taken advantage of the opening of the labor market in Europe to victimize Filipino jobseekers.
The DMW has closed six unlicensed recruitment offices in Metro Manila last year and three so far this year for promising non-existent or spurious jobs usually in Europe in exchange for huge sums from prospective OFWs.
“These illegal recruiters that we have closed usually offer European jobs because that entices the victims, that’s the bait,” said Cacdac.
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“We really welcome the openness of our European counterparts to talk about enhancing the protection of our OFWs. We welcome the cooperation of our European counterparts to [ensure] safe, ethical, transparent, fair labor mobility,” he added.
The DMW reminded jobseekers to deal only with licensed recruitment agencies or to directly approach the department to avoid falling victim to trafficking syndicates.