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POEA says 2,500 OFWs lose Taiwan jobs

Agence France-Presse | 01/07/2009 8:02 PM

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At least 2,500 Filipino workers have lost their jobs in Taiwan amid a global economic slowdown, and more are expected to be sent home in the coming months, the Philippines government said Wednesday.

A total of 2,500 Filipinos were laid off by factories in Taiwan adjusting to lower global demand, according to records kept by the labor department's Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

The government agency expects the number to double this year unless there is a rapid global recovery -- which seems unlikely at the moment.

Some eight million Filipinos work or live abroad, remitting an estimated 15 billion dollars to their families back home in an effort that helps keep the Philippines economy afloat.

Taiwan employed some 90,000 Filipinos at the start of the crisis last year, according to Jennifer Manalili, head of the POEA.

More than 100 were sent home last month, most of them workers in Taiwan's microchip factories.

Labour Secretary Marianito Roque told reporters Manila will be sending a team to Taiwan to help the Filipinos who lost their factory jobs.

"In the next two weeks, we will deploy an advance reintegration team to Taiwan to assist the affected OFWs (overseas Filipino workers)," Roque said.

The team would canvass employers "for possible re-deployment before they return to the country, or referrals to other companies there," he added.

Manalili said Manila considers Taiwan's export manufacturing sector to be "vulnerable" as the financial crisis deepens.