Study Highlights:

·     Employers prefer OFWs over their migrant counterparts because they are fast learners, industrious, flexible, adaptable, and have good command of the English language.

·     From 1995 to 1999, total deployment of OFWs has been increasing at an annual average of 3.5 percent (730,892 workers).  Deployment of sea-based workers reached an annual average of 183,866 workers, or about 5.0 percent growth rate during the same period.  The number of land-based workers going abroad increased from 488,621 in 1995 to 640,331 workers in 1999, posting an average rate of growth of 3.1 percent.

·     Asia and Middle East countries remain to destinations (46.8%).  Asia (46.8%) topped the list of OFWs major regions of destination, despite the recent financial fall-out which afflicted most economies in the region.  It is followed closely by Middle East countries (44.8%).  A large pool of OFWs can also be found in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, among others.

·     Most of OFWs are in their prime years.  The men are mostly between 24 and 39 years old, while the women are usually between 20 and 34 years old.

·     From 1995 to 1999, the proportion of women working overseas has reached more than 50 percent.  From 58.3 percent  in 1995, the proportion of women OFWs reached 64.8 percent of total deployment in 1999.

·     Majority of OFWs are highly educated.  Close to one-third or 29.7 percent and 24.0percent have finished college and high school education, respectively, while the rest have either managed to complete voc-tech or post-secondary courses (9.8%) or acquired some units of tertiary education (14.1%).

Implications of Overseas Employment on TESD

·     There are no “dying” markets or occupations, rather, these have taken the form of shifts in geographical origin and cycle in occupational orientation.  Job opportunities are seen in occupational areas that are in the category called 3-D jobs.  The factory system is now being broken down into components, relocated to countries with labor and utilities in the form of subcontracting.  The nationalization approach tends to temporarily shrink employment opportunities, such as those in office and administrative categories.  The emergence of regional blocs, such as the European Union, tends to restrict non-European expatriates.  Even for less skilled positions, those from Eastern could compete for these jobs due to their geographical proximity.

·     As the nature of the skills being sought overseas becomes more multifaceted, it is significant to reinforce skills standards, regardless of destination, and keep these consistent with the experiences in the international setting.

·     Many international agreements, such as APEC, GATS, ASEAN-AFTA, and  BIMO-EAGA, have not yet been exploited to capture much of their advocacy role to facilitate mobility of manpower and protect OFWs.  Similarly, existing bilateral relationships with host countries of OFWs seldom include cooperating arrangements on manpower development, such as sponsorship of skills training programs on priority occupational trades of the host country.

·     The role of TESD institutions in overseas employment is crucial in two aspects:  (a) creator of job opportunities, and (b) source of manpower replacement.  To be globally relevant will entail keeping in stride with current and emerging middle-level manpower needs.  However, the consequential issue is who should pay the cost of globalizing the Filipino manpower.

Policy Recommendations:

·     A reliable database on overseas employment should be drawn, to include the profile of skills of OFWs prior to and after work assignment abroad.  The Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) is the most strategically situated as it processes both incoming and departing passengers.

·     Land-based recruitment should adopt a sector-wide adherence to specific skills standard for different occupational trades, similar to the current practice of manning agencies for sea-based workers.

·     The quality of implementation of the reintegration program, more importantly on its livelihood component, has to be improved.

·     TESDA should conduct adequate capability build-up to manage the assessment and certification of ratings in the maritime sector, as well as skills and occupational standards setting for middle-level manpower.

·     The Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) should focus on enhancing the social security needs of OFWs.