Some 18,998 jobs are up for grabs during the 122nd Labor Day Job Fair in various venues around Western Visayas, including at SM City Bacolod.
Department of Labor and Employment Region 6 director, Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr., said April 30 that this is the first time that job fairs will be held in major cities and provinces of the region “to bring government closer and provide equal opportunities for the underserved, unserved, and hard to reach sector of society.”
In Bacolod and Negros Occidental, around 9,770 local and overseas jobs will be offered by some 65 companies at the job fair at SM City Bacolod.
DOLE-Negros Occidental Field Office head Carmela Abellar urged jobseekers to pre-register for easier and faster entry to the job fair area, starting at 9 a.m. today, May 1.
“We invite jobseekers to grab this opportunity to apply for jobs in these agencies,” Abellar said in a Philippine News Agency interview, adding that pre-registration can be done online or by scanning the QR (quick response) codes at the job fair site.
Aside from SM City Bacolod, other job fair venues are the Northwestern Visayas College Gym for jobseekers in Aklan, Robinsons Antique National Highway, Robinsons in Roxas City, Capiz, Buenavista Gym in Guimaras, and Robinsons Main in Iloilo City.
Among the vacancies are for cashiers, accounting staff and assistants, service crew, marketing managers, and skills-related work for drivers, mechanics, and welders, Rodriguez said in a statement, adding the job fair also offers opportunities for high school graduates, and those who finished technical and vocational courses.
Other offerings are for information and communication, agriculture, real estate, mining and quarrying, hotels and restaurants, manufacturing, administrative and support service, wholesale and retail, construction, financial and insurance companies, transport and storage.
Abellar said the participating companies or employers have fulfilled the requirements set by the DOLE and have been evaluated to possess valid job orders. “They are registered. The DOLE ensures that these are not ‘fly-by-night’ or illegal agencies.”
One highlight of this year’s Labor Day celebration of DOLE will be the releasing of P218.9 million, considered as the biggest combined assistance for emergency employment for TUPAD, or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers, and livelihood assistance for the Kabuhayan Program to benefit 36,053 informal workers, Rodriguez said.
Help desks will also be available during the job fair, and personnel from the SSS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, and Philippine Statistics Authority, among others, will assist workers.
Meanwhile, on May 1 and 2, the Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) Center will open its doors at SM City Bacolod to sell local, fresh, and affordable food products of informal workers.
The KNP is a market linkage facilitation program that enables farmers to sell directly to consumers, removing market layers to make agri-fishery products and other basic commodities accessible and affordable, and seeks to establish additional markets for farmers and fisherfolk to increase their income. | CGC, PNA
