(DOLE-11 graphics)
DAVAO CITY – At least 6,147 job openings will be available during the celebration of the 122nd Labor Day on May 1, an official said Monday.
Lorraine Grace Ugsang, Department of Labor and Employment in Davao Region (DOLE-11) administrative officer, said the agency targets to declare around 5-10 percent of applicants hired on the spot during the fair.
Of the job openings, Ugsang said 2,862 were for local employment while 3,285 were bound overseas.
“For the top three job vacancies, we have customer service representative, sales representative, and customer service positions. That is for local,” she said in an interview.
Ugsang said the 44 local employers participating in the event are primarily looking for customer service workers, while the ten overseas employers are scouting for service crew, on-call cleaners, and fabricators, among other positions.
The job openings will be available for both online pre-registration and walk-in applicants.
Ugsang said 1,084 people have already pre-registered for the May 1 fair.
DOLE-11 and the Public Employment Service Office will conduct their annual Labor Day Jobs Fair at the SM City Annex Event Center.
Call for living wage
A Church-based group on Monday has supported the call of workers to be given salaries equivalent to the work done.
"The right to a living wage is not an optional right in Catholic social teaching. It is rooted in the dignity of the human person which, while it is of eternal worth, is also realized concretely in the here and now," the Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS) said in a message ahead of the country's Labor Day observance.
"The Church teaches that all workers, in return for their labor, are entitled to a living wage. A just wage is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice," it added
The CWS said the minimum wages across 17 regions in the country are not enough to meet the needs of a family of five.
"With rising inflation, the wage gap has been growing wider because the wage increases of regional wage boards are so infrequent and so small that worker wages aren't keeping up with inflation, nor even with increasing productivity," the group said.
All Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) have recently issued their respective wage orders providing for a pay hike for workers in the private sector.
On the other hand, some bills pending in Congress are pushing for across-the-board wage increases for private sector workers. (with report from Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
