Job opportunities for OFWs in Taiwan ‘promising’: POLO

MANILA – Job opportunities for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan particularly in Taichung, the central district of the host island is encouraging, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) reported on Friday.

POLO Taichung Labor Attaché Bienvenido Cerbo, Jr., said the possibility of Filipino workers being employed is very likely since OFWs are the most preferred by employers.

“Very, very bright actually. Very encouraging especially in the electronics industry. We are on top of the list, it’s our niche market. They preferred OFWs. Out of 149,000 OFWs in Taiwan, 55,000 are in the electronics manufacturing industry,” Cerbo added.

But, he said the employment opportunities would depend on the decision of Taiwan to open its borders.

“We are waiting for them (to open the borders). Everybody is keeping their fingers crossed,” Cerbo added.

At the same time, he reported that Taiwan is expected to hire 40,000 workers in the next two to three years.

“With a projected 32 percent increase in production, even if it’s only 20 to 25 percent of the share, that’s pretty good. We projected that of the 40,000 workers were needed if we can just get 20 percent of the share, that’s good,” Cerbo said.

He added that there are 32,658 OFWs in Taichung, the majority of whom are working as factory workers and are in the semiconductor industry.