Canada opens doors to foreign workers

On recruitment missions to hire Filipino welders, butchers, food handlers, and other skilled workers.

THE head of Canada’s Ministry of Advance Education, Employment and Labor and his delegation arrived in Manila yesterday to present to the Philippine government more employment opportunities in Saskatchewan that are available to foreign workers including Filipinos.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Rosalinda Baldoz said Minister Rob Norris and his delegation are scheduled to meet with Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, officials of other government agencies like the POEA, Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Commission on Higher Education and officers of the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities to present their province’s immigration programs aimed at meeting the increasing demand for skilled labor.

The Canadian minister will focus his discussion on the economic strength of Saskatchewan, highlighting its relationship with the Philippines and how its expanding economy offers excellent potential for long-term business and investment partnerships.

His delegation includes Mary Donlevy Konkin, Ministerial Assistant, and Eric Johansen, Director of Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program.

Baldoz said Saskatchewan was the first province of Canada that signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine labor department on the hiring of professionals and skilled workers.

She added a group of Canadian employers arrived last May 22 to recruit Filipino workers.

The POEA administrator said the recruitment will be through Philippine licensed agencies selected by the Saskatchewan government and applicants will not be charged placement fees.

She added the Canadian employers, mostly from the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, will interview applicants pre-selected by the licensed recruitment agencies.

Several groups of employers from Saskatchewan have conducted recruitment missions during the past year hiring Filipino welders, butchers, food handlers, and other skilled workers.

The provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba have also signed a similar agreement with the Philippines. By: Lee Ann P. Ducusin - Journal online

Lack of skilled workforce

Top problem for second year

Lack of skilled workforce slows business expansion. A large Korean investor and many Middle East contractors also expressed concern about the lack of qualified welders and other skilled technicians

By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter

BUSINESSMEN consider the lack of a skilled workforce as the biggest constraint to expansion, according to the annual International Business Report issued by Grant Thornton International Ltd.

For two consecutive years, the unavailability of a skilled workforce emerged as the most important constraint to business expansion among Filipinos. Similarly, skills lack emerged as the number one problem of privately held business around the world, displacing inhospitable regulations and red tape.

The report, which was released by Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), is an annual survey of the attitudes and expectations of medium-sized businesses. This year, the report surveyed 7,800 respondents from 34 participating countries.

Of the Filipino business leaders polled, 58 percent said the growth of their enterprise is worst affected by the unavailability of a skilled workforce, up from last year’s 43 percent. Globally, the proportion of respondents who cited this constraint increased from 34 percent last year to 37 percent this year.

In terms of lack of a skilled workforce, the Philippines shared the third spot with Australia, while Thailand and New Zealand were the top two countries wherein this was also a problem.

“[We] are in a dire situation since [we] now belong to the top three countries whose business growth is limited mostly by this human resource problem,” Greg Navarro, P&A managing partner said.

Late last year, networking company Cisco reported that the Philippines was short of 1,300 information technology professionals, with this shortage expected to rise to 2,400 by next year.

A large Korean investor and many Middle East contractors also expressed concern about the lack of qualified welders and other skilled technicians, the report said.

“The business community has been experiencing the gradual and continuous deterioration of the quality of graduates in the past decade or so, and has organized itself to help the education sector improve the standard in the country,” Navarro said.

Besides the unavailability of a skilled workforce, the report also showed a notable increase in the percentage of Filipino respondents concerned about the reduced demand for their products or services. From 17 percent of respondents last year, this figure jumped to 46 percent this year.

This was followed by red tape, which had been on a downward track for the past four years. Last year, 26 percent of Filipino business leaders said it was a major roadblock to growth, down from 34 percent in 2006. This year, 49 percent consider it a major constraint.

“Besides being a major constraint to business, red tape also influences the flow of foreign investments into the country. So [we] have to take a serious look at how [we] can reduce bureaucracy and cut the costs of doing business in the Philippines if we want to catch up with [our] Asian neighbors,” Navarro said. Manila Times