Korean ship building firm to hire 6,500 workers in Subic

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — A Korean firm building a $721-million ship building facility at the Subic Bay Freeport is hiring some 6,500 workers, amid projections that once it is fully operational, it will employ 20,000.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza said that Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) is now full blast with the contruction of the ship building facility at the Redondo peninsula.

Hanjin is expected to build at least 16 ships a year and that "given a minimum work force of 7,000, the firm could already infuse at least $1.6 billion into the economy in terms of export values, taxes, and workers’ income."

Engineers, welders, pipefitters, foremen, crane operators, and agriculturists are now being hired by Hanjin for its facility and intial ship repair operations.

Hanjin‘s operations "will have a significant impact on the national economy and on employment," Arreza said. — Ding Cervantes