TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — I-mei Foods continued its employment recruitment drive in the Philippines with a visit to the southern port of Davao City on Thursday (April 27).

A large crowd of applicants turned out before 7a.m. at a shopping mall where I-Mei Foods conducted the employment fair. A 15-person team from the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) was on hand to help applicants complete the registration process.

Large crowd of applicants turn out for I-Mei recruitment fair in Davao City. (Taiwan News photo)

Davao City Councilor Bonz Andre Militar attended the event to deliver a letter on behalf of Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who was on an international visit to Japan.

In his letter, Duterte thanked the I-Mei team for choosing Davao City as a location for the recruitment fair, providing economic opportunities for the community. Duterte said he was happy to see local talent matched with employers through this employment platform.

Davao City is located in the eastern part of Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines. I-Mei’s employment fair attracted many job seekers in central and southern Philippines who may find it inconvenient to travel to the capital of Manila.

One of the job seekers, 23-year-old Cristine Gallosa, majored in accounting at university, and has three years of work experience in her hometown of Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Province. She became a manager at a grocery store, and saw her pay rise from NT$6,600 (12,000 pesos) a month to NT$9,400. Although she earns more than most local workers, she still wants to go overseas for employment.

Gallosa is the eldest in her family. For the sake of her two younger siblings who are still in school, she chose to participate in this direct employment fair after seeing information published on the Philippines’s DMW website.

To respond to this employment opportunity offered by Taiwan's I-Mei Foods, she drove eight hours to Davao City the day before the employment fair, to potentially secure a future for herself and her family.

Camille Bianca Enero Sanchez, an employee of the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) in Davao City said 80-90% of domestic workers certified by the Department of Immigration and Labor find jobs through job opportunities posted on PESO’s Facebook page.

(Left) I-Mei Recruitment Representative Jack Cheng, (center) Davao City Councilor Bonz Andre Militar, (right) DMW District 11 Director Angela Lebrado-Trimida. (Taiwan News photo)

DMW District 11 Director Angela Lebrado-Trimida said local workers going to other regions or even overseas to pursue employment is a trend. It has also posed many challenges, such as how to arrange recruitment interviews and better prepare them for future challenges.

For example, migrant Filipino workers may only learn a single skill set when working abroad and may not develop local connections.

Lebrado-Trimida said pre-employment training helps migrant workers prepare for overseas assignments, and a special reintegration program has also been set up to assist returning workers. The program includes skills training, assistance in starting a business and filling local job vacancies.

*I-Mei is the parent company of Taiwan News.