Mindanao job market shows bright spots

The job market in Mindanao showed bright spots as export-oriented agri-based
business and other industries in the region indicated that they will hire
more workers within the second quarter of 2009, boosting employment
situation in other parts of the country, the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) said.

Citing a report from DOLE Coordinator for Mindanao Joji Aragon, Labor and
Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that job opportunities in
agriculture, plantations, mining, and business process outsourcing (BPO)
sectors in Regions 9 (Western Mindanao), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11
(Southern Mindanao), 12 (Central Mindanao), and 13 (Caraga) will be made
available for semi-skilled, skilled, and professional workers begi-ning this
month.

Roque said the bright spots in Mindanao's job market boosted employment
situation in other parts of the country where industries affected by the
global crisis started rehiring and also recalling affected workers back to
regular work.

In CARAGA 3,264 workers in 11 companies were hired or rehired.

He specified the agri-business and food processing companies in Mindanao,
which would be hiring crop technicians, chemists, agriculturists, managers,
and other agri-business positions.

The DOLE Chief also said that agriculture and plantation related jobs
particularly those involving pest and disease control in banana, abaca, and
coconut industries in the region are continuously in demand, an indication
that these industries are resilient to the effects of the global economic
crisis.

Meanwhile, the demand for mining engineers, geodetic engineers, geologists,
heavy equipment operators, and other mining workers will be sustained as
mining companies in the region have beefed up their mining processing
capacities.

BPO firms in Mindanao's urban cities, on the other hand, continuously
showed buoyancy as they are expected to hire more call center agents, back
office workers, animators, and medical, legal and entertainment
transcriptionists.

Roque said the DOLE regional offices in Mindanao will conduct job fairs and
caravans to help firms and workers in the region find needed skills and
jobs, respectively, in coordination with the Public Employment Service
Offices (PESOs). Interested applicants can go to the nearest DOLE offices
for the schedules of job fairs and caravans.

He said the job fairs would also offer jobs under the emergency employment
program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Under the program, local
government units and other government offices including government-owned
corporations and state schools at the provincial and regional levels with
employ temporary workers in accordance with the President's Executive Order
No. 782.

The order provides for the temporary filling up of vacancies in the
government using 1.5% of a government agency's maintenance and other
operating expenses