The West Coast-based Labor Attaché in the United States (US) who revealed the presence of promising employment opportunities in Guam has offered helpful advice to Filipinos who intend to land a job in the American territory in the coming years.
According to Labor Attaché in Los Angeles, Armi Evangel Peña, job-sseeking Filipinos must always find ways to improve their skills so that they may always match employer preferences abroad.
Moreover, Peña said aspiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should always refer to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to make sure that they deal only with legitimate recruitment firms.
"Pumunta po lamang kayo sa POEA para makita po doon yung mga licensed recruitment agencies sa Guam (In order to see the list of licensed recruitment agencies in Guam, just go to the POEA)," she said over the weekend.
"Gawin nating opportunity ito habang marami ang nawawalan ng trabaho, tayo ay mag-preserve at mag-create more ng jobs at magkita tayo nga dito sa Guam at sa Amerika. I-upgrade po natin mga skills po natin para po makapasok tayo sa mga demand ng trabahong ito (Let's grab this as an opportunity. While many people are losing their jobs, Let's preserve and create employment here in Guam and America. Let's upgrade our skills in order to meet the demand)," said Peña, who heads the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Los Angeles.
"Kasi kahit tayo ay hanap nang hanap ng employment opportunities dito po sa post, kung hindi po natin masu-supply po ang demand dahil kulang po tayo sa skills, mahihirapan po tayo (Even if we keep looking for employment opportunities here at our post, if we lack the necessary skills, then it will be difficult for us to provide for the demand)," she explained.
According to her, there will be at least 11,500 job openings for foreigners in Guam--a US island territory--in the next 10 years. The peak of the demand will be in 2023, when 6,500 foreign workers would be needed.
Peña said that if employers in Guam would have their way, they would prefer to exclusively hire OFWs, who are known for their industriousness.
“Kailangan po nating ng mga (What we need are) electricians, welders, HVAC and refrigeration mechanics, construction equipment mechanics, plumbers and pipe fitters, operating engineers or heavy equipment operators, and of course carpenters, reinforcing metal workers, , structural steel workers, camp cooks... engineers,” she said when asked what types of jobs were in demand in Guam.