By Cindy Ferrer/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Some 29,000 jobs will be made available during the Christmas Job Fair of the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) in Iloilo province on December 7-8.
In an interview Friday, Francisco Heler Jr. of PESO said 111 companies have confirmed their participation in the annual activity, 21 of which are offering 23,823 jobs for overseas employment, and 87 offering 5,177 jobs for local employment.
Three government agencies have also signified their interest to join the job fair — the Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Heler said the available jobs may increase as they target to gather 150 companies. “We are continuously accepting interested companies to join,” he said.
Heler said they have decided to conduct the job fair for two days to provide companies ample time to meet the jobseekers.
On Dec. 7, overseas recruitment agencies, business process outsourcing (BPOs), banks/microfinance, logistics, real estate and government agencies will open their jobs.
Meanwhile, work related to retail/wholesale, manufacturing, food service, car companies and hotels will be opened by companies on December 8.
So far, 155 applicants have already pre-registered at the PESO office.
Heler expressed hope that companies would be able to reach the target of 15 percent of the total applicants to be hired on the spot.
Assistance desks of various agencies will again be put up to assist the jobseekers regarding requirements and other concerns. These are the Department of Foreign Affairs, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Professional Regulation Commission, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Philippine Statistics Authority, and the Department of Labor and Employment.
Special lanes will be made available for persons with disability, Indigenous Peoples, single parents, and beneficiaries of the Sustainable Livelihood Program and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
A number of local government units in the province will also provide “Libreng Sakay”, “Libreng Angkas”, and “Libreng Pamasahe” to help ease the transport of applicants from their towns, especially from remote areas.
