334 hired on Labor Day jobs fair in Ilocos

DAGUPAN CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 1 said 334 applicants were hired on the spot during the two job fairs held in the Ilocos Region on Labor Day.

DOLE Regional Director Grace Ursua said the number is equivalent to 21 percent of the 1,587 total registered applicants who trooped to the job fairs at the Robinsons Place in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte and SM City Rosales in Pangasinan on April 30 and May 1, respectively.

“Even the job fairs have already ended, more applicants are expected to be employed as 1, 273 have been referred for further interview,” said Ursua.

She added that monitoring of post-job fair results is continuously being done by the DOLE 1 in cooperation with Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) to find out if there are more applicants who will successfully pass further interviews or tests from employers and eventually land in jobs.

Ursua thanked the region’s partners for their commitment and strong support that ensured the success of the Labor Day activities.

She cited the members of the DOLE-Regional Coordinating Committee 1 such as PRC, TESDA, OWWA, POEA, RTWPB, NCMB and NLRC; SM City Rosales in Pangasinan; Robinsons Place in Ilocos Norte; DTI; participating PESOs; Employers Confederation of the Philippines; Philippine Information Agency; media partners; SSS; Pag-IBIG; Philhealth; local employers and licensed recruitment agencies.

“Coming together in one venue, we were able to respond to the different needs of our workers, jobseekers and new entrants to the labor force,” she said.

At the SM City Rosales jobs fair, one-stop-shop pre-employment services, livelihood products display fair and free pampering services were made available.

“We are also happy to note that our Diskwento Caravan that was put together by the SM City Rosales and the DTI helped ease workers and general consumers from the soaring prices of commodities,” Ursua said.

A total of 15,975 job vacancies – 4,670 local and 11,305 overseas – were offered by 112 employers who participated in the two job fairs.

This year’s Labor Day celebration was anchored on the theme:  “Disenteng Trabaho at Kabuhayan, Alay Natin sa Bayan.”  (PIA-1, Pangasinan with reports from DOLE)