Philippine job fair offers over 4,000 opportunities for former offshore gaming workers
A job fair is taking place today at the Activity Center of Ayala Pavilion Mall in Biñan City.
The Philippines.- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has announced that 4,383 job openings will be available at the job fair being held today (December 6) for workers who have been displaced from internet gaming licensees (IGLs). The event is being held at the Activity Center of Ayala Pavilion Mall located in Biñan City.
The positions available include production operators, cashiers, sales clerks, warehouse crews, and transporters. The DOLE has already organised special job fairs in Parañaque, Pasay, and Makati, specifically aimed at assisting workers impacted by the closure of offshore gaming hubs.
The DOLE is also working with the Department of Migrant Workers to explore overseas job prospects for those impacted. It has been estimated that 79,735 Filipino and foreign workers will be affected by the closure of offshore gaming operators by the end of the year.
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DILG secretary says 47 offshore gaming operators still operating in the Philippines
Jesus Crispin Remulla, secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), has said that 47 offshore gaming operators are still operating in the Philippines. He said the DILG will begin site inspections on December 15 to ensure operators are in the process of winding down activities following the ban issued under Executive Order (EO) 74.
“They should show that they are winding down their operations. We are also accounting the visas of foreign workers, mostly Chinese nationals,” he said in a television interview. “These two are interconnected. Once POGOs cease operations, they should leave the country because they do not have a valid working visa anymore.”
The Bureau of Immigation (BI) has reported that approximately 20,000 foreign offshore gaming workers are expected to leave the country by December 31. As of November 7, 21,757 foreign nationals linked to offshore gaming operators had voluntarily changed their work visas to temporary visitor visas and 10,821 had already left the country.
In October, the BI issued cancellation orders for 12,106 people who had not voluntarily downgraded their visas. They must leave the country by the end of the year.
