Fewer Filipino nurses, professionals hired abroad since 2001

CEBU, Philippines – Fewer Filipino nurses and other professionals are getting hired abroad, the local recruitment industry reported yesterday.

Recruitment leader Lito Soriano said hiring of professionals has recorded a 45 percent decline for the past years.

“Government data showed that from its peak in 2004, the number of Filipino professionals had dropped by 45 percent in 2007,” Soriano said.

He said Filipino factory workers and other low skilled workers are more in demand abroad than professional workers.

“There is no truth to the government claim that dollar remittances from abroad increased due to the growing number of professionals because hiring of nurses and other highly skilled workers is now on the decline,” Soriano said.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Soriano said factory workers, domestic helpers and other service workers accounted for 74 percent of overseas deployment in the country.

“In 2007, which is already considered a productive year for overseas employment, professionals and other skilled workers only accounted for 14 percent of deployment,” Soriano pointed out.

He noted that Filipino nurses posted an average of four percent annual deployment from year 2001 to 2008.

“For the last eight years, only an annual average of 10,000 nurses were deployed abroad while information and technology experts recorded 18 percent,” Soriano added.

He said the decline in the number of deployed professionals abroad was due to lack of qualified applicants.

“Very few applicants have the necessary experience and qualification for overseas employment,” Soriano said, even as he called on the government to address the problem immediately.

He said the Philippine overseas employment system needs an immediate “overhaul” to enable the country to cope with the demands of foreign employers. — Philippine Star News Service (THE FREEMAN)