META Platforms, Inc.-controlled Facebook is seeking accreditation to recruit in the Philippines for Singapore-based jobs, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said.
Facebook has “requested accreditation as an employer, which speaks a lot about the excellence of our Filipino IT professionals,” Migrant Workers Secretary Susan V. Ople said at a news conference in Indonesia on Sunday, according to a transcript released by the Palace.
She said Grab Holdings, Inc., which operates a ride-share platform in the region, is also “keen on hiring from us.”
Ms. Ople said Singapore’s Ministry of Health has made contact with the DMW “to explore ways of recruiting or hiring more of our health workers for employment in Singapore.”
“Hindi pa kasi sarado iyong talks and iyong pipirmahan namin na document (Talks have not concluded and no agreements have been signed),” she said of the potential government-to-government hiring arrangement.
There are about 200,000 migrant Filipino workers in Singapore, 84,000 of them domestic workers, and the rest professionals and skilled workers, according to Ms. Ople.
She said the preponderance of of highly-skilled workers vis-a-vis those in domestic employment is not typical of countries where Filipinos are employed.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. left the Philippines on Sunday for his inaugural state visit to Indonesia. He is expected to head to Singapore on Tuesday.
Singapore has become the Philippines’ top trading partner in the region and the top source of approved investment in 2021, Mr. Marcos said in a speech before his Sunday flight. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
