Only three in five Filipinos job hunters visiting the UAE are able to find work within the valid term of their visa.
That is the ballpark figure provided by Philippine officials who have studied the phenomenon of 'tourist workers'.
"Not everyone gets lucky," said Vicente Cabe, Philippine Labour Attache in Dubai. "Filipinos who come here as tourists often find jobs. Others have to go home before their visit visa expires or exit and come back again."
Cabe admitted that many Filipinos come to the UAE as tourists with the intention of finding jobs - because of the ease of travel here and double-digit unemployment at home.
But he said there were risks attached to seeking jobs on a tourist visa.
Workers are vulnerable to maltreatment and manipulation by employers and do not qualify for the protection and privileges of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, or OWWA. "Our people should know the risks of taking a plunge into the unknown. They must be fully aware of the risks they are taking," he said.
Nearly three quarters of a million Filipinos work in the Gulf states and 160,000 of these are in the UAE.
When the 'tourist workers' are successful in finding a job, they change their status from that of a tourist to a person who holds an employment visa.
"But problems arise when they do not come to the labour office to voluntarily become a member of OWWA. When they run into problems, they are on their own or bank on the generosity or charity of others," Cabe added.
Filipinos here work in hospitals, hotels, shops, banking, finance, and services. But the plight of Filipina housemaids is a constant headache. Anabelle Oliveros, the Philippine Labour Attache in Abu Dhabi, said most of the maids are ill-prepared for the job itself, not to mention the language barriers and the culture shock.
Officials say that Filipinos generally have good jobs and survive well in a highly competitive environment. But even graduates of top universities in the Philippines might not find it easy to find jobs that suit them.
N.M., a graduate of Nuclear Medicine from a top state university, is still scouring the papers for a job. "I'll take even a production assistant's job, just as a stop-gap," he said.
S.O., a government scholar who graduated with honours and took a masters degree in a Western university, also had a tough time landing a job here.
Cabe, meanwhile, appealed to those who found jobs to sign up as members of the OWWA and get their e-cards for their own protection. He also urged job hunters to go through the proper job placement channels for their own good.
Looking for a break* Each first-time OFW is required to pay $25 insurance; 'tourist workers' are not required to pay this.
* There are more than 740,000 Filipinos working in the Gulf states of which 160,000 are in the UAE, 450,000 in Saudi Arabia, 60,000 in Kuwait, 28,000 in Qatar and 22,000 each in Bahrain and Oman.
* Foreigners, mainly unskilled and low-paid workers, represent around one-third of Bahrain's 651,000 population, two-thirds in the UAE, and around half of the populations of Kuwait and Qatar, and make up 7 million of Saudi Arabia's estimated population of 21 million.
* GCC countries are facing increasing problem in securing employment for their own citizens.
Gulf News
