The San Juan City local government launched on Friday, Nov. 18, its 2nd Mega Job Fair in a bid to help its residents acquire jobs amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, together with other city government officials led the job fair facilitated by the city's Public Employment Service Office (PESO) at the City Hall Open Parking.
Dubbed as “Disenteng Trabaho para sa San Juaneño”, the job fair is in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philhealth, Pagibig, Social Security System (SSS), Department of Migrant Workers, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and DZXL Radyo Trabaho.
According to the local government unit (LGU), 60 companies participated in the event, including seven international job recruiters hiring nurses, domestic helpers, hotel staff and skilled workers such as welders, mason, carpenters, and drivers.
Meanwhile, local companies offered job openings for call centers, service crews, office and hotel staff, sales representatives, promodizers, cashiers, waiters, and skilled workers as well.
“Providing jobs and livelihood opportunities to San Juanenõs have always been part of the local government’s priority programs, we have enhanced the program even more now that we are still recuperating from the pandemic, as many Filipinos unfortunately lost their jobs and other means of livelihood during the height of Covid-19 in the last two years,” Zamora said.
The mayor explained that the city government has been regularly coordinating with local and international companies as well as various national agencies to make job opportunities accessible to every residents.
During the job fair, help desks were set up by representatives from national government agencies such as SSS, Philhealth, Pagibig, POEA, and OWWA which provided assistance to the applicants.
Zamora said that San Juan's 1st Mega Job Fair held last August recorded 400 applicants, 252 of them qualified for final interview with the prospective employers while 85 were hired on the spot.
Aside from the regular job fair, PESO is also open Mondays to Fridays to readily assist job seekers.
The local chief added that the city's Skills and Training Center is regularly holding various skills and livelihood trainings to San Juaneños for free such as baking and dress making seminars.
“This is how we envision what a Makabagong San Juan should be, decent jobs and livelihood for San Juaneños mean decent lives for them,” Zamora noted.