Saudi Arabia eyes hiring 1M Filipino skilled workers  

SAUDI ARABIA plans to hire about one million skilled Filipino workers in the next 18 to 24 months through a special employment program, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Tuesday.  

At a livestreamed briefing on the sidelines of the Asia-Gulf Cooperation Council Senior Officials Dialogue, Migrant Workers Secretary Maria Susana V. Ople said Philippine state officials met with private sector representatives in Saudi Arabia about the mass hiring plan. 

“We in the department will have to look at, have a special hiring program that would accommodate their needs while also scaling up our skills training and opportunities for job internships so that there is continued sustainability for our own needs and our needs of our external partners,” she said.  

The migrant workers chief said key sectors in need of workers in Saudi Arabia include the hospitality industry, construction, and information and technology.  

DMW officials and representatives from the Asia-Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday kicked off their two-day dialogue on fair and ethical recruitment and decent work for all migrant workers.  

On May 26, Ms. Ople said Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance has allotted funds to cover the unpaid salaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the Middle Eastern country.  

The Saudi government had promised President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in November that it would settle the unpaid wages, she said.  

Jose “Sonny” G. Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers, welcomed the development saying it would help increase remittances and provide decent jobs.  

“As we celebrate this overseas employment opportunity, we also take this as a reminder that our efforts should be equally invested in creating more local job opportunities, especially for our millions of skilled workers,” he said in a Viber message.  

Money sent home by OFWs rose by 3% in March at $2.67 billion amid improving economic conditions in host countries, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 

“I urge a bold discussion on how we collectively define (overseas workers), and this can help promote better migration governance,” Ms. Ople said in her speech at the event, a copy of which was sent to reporters.  

“Safe and regular migration is achievable, only if we seek to make it so.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez