More and more countries are opening their doors for Filipinos in their work force, creating new job slots that provide good salaries.
Recently, European countries Croatia and Slovakia have opened a total of 1,600 job slots for Filipinos, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) reported. Croatia needs 1,000 Filipino workers while Slovakia opens its doors to 600 Filipino workers.
“Though mga skilled ang mga tao nila doon, they are more in-demand in the neighboring areas and they are being given higher salary so nauubos ‘yung tao nila kaya talagang kailangan nila at saka talagang kakaunti lang naman ang population doon,” PASEI president Elsa Villa explained.
“I mean like for example Croatia, they only have about 4 million plus people.”
Since these countries’ economies are focused more on tourism, Villa added that the jobs offered are suited for those in the hospitality industry such as hotel workers.
PASEI estimates that the workers will receive a starting salary of around $800 (Php42,000) to $1,000 (Php52,500). They will also be allowed to work overtime with pay for up to 4 hours, thereby increasing their net pay.
But the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) clarified that right now, there is no bilateral agreement between the Philippines and either country but deployment of Filipino workers is allowed.
“Isu-scrutinize po natin ‘yung kanilang tinatawag na employment contracts… Dapat po ‘yung minimum pay nandodoon, ‘yung 8-hour work per day nandidiyan po dapat, ‘yung overtime pay ng ating workers will be assured and then ‘yung additional benefits,” POEA administrator Bernard Olalia promised.
The POEA hopes that the two countries would eventually form bilateral agreements with the Philippines in the future. For now, they are monitoring the demand in Pinoy workers for these countries.
As always, though, the POEA warns interested applicants to make sure they check the POEA website for the list of accredited recruitment agencies to ensure the job orders they applied for are valid and legal.
