Wanted: Pinay hairdressers, dressmakers

Where have all the female hairdressers and dressmakers gone?

Women hairdressers and dressmakers seem to have become a vanishing breed that the country is now having difficulty filling up the global demand for such skills.

Lito Soriano, former president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI), said numerous job orders for women cosmetologists and dressmakers have remained unfilled.

“Local recruitment agencies dread the job orders from foreign employers, particularly from Middle Eastern countries, for women cosmetologists and hairdressers because we do not have the supply right now,” Soriano disclosed.

Soriano said Filipino women have apparently given up such job opportunities to the “third sex,” thus the country is now experiencing a shortage of female dressmakers and hairdressers, whom employers in the Middle East prefer over gay workers.

“We cannot fill up the quota because most of the hairdressers and dressmakers are gays and because of cultural barriers foreign employers, particularly from the Middle East, prefer to hire women,” Soriano explained.

Soriano expressed hope that many Filipino women will again consider taking up skills training to become dressmakers and cosmetologists because of the potential employment opportunities.

Soriano said at least 10,000 overseas jobs will be available for Filipino female hairdressers and dressmakers in the next two years.

He said female hairdressers and dressmakers are paid a minimum of $500 but they can earn as much as $1,000 a month, including overtime and tips from foreign customers.

“We have so many women workers and I hope they will see these employment opportunities,” he said.