The biggest and grandest job fair of the year will highlight the 112th Labor Day celebration.

This was bared yesterday by Director Joffrey M. Suyao of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Davao region as the agency is now in the thick of its preparation for the biggest Job Fair in the region.

DOLE Davao inked yesterday the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with its major sponsor and partner of hosting the Labor Job Fair: SM City of Davao, Gaisano Mall of Davao and Gaisano Mall of Tagum, and media outfits ABS-CBN and GMA Davao.

“This is the biggest and grandest celebration Job fair of the year, as we embark to gather at least 10,000 job opening both for local and overseas employment in Davao Region,” Suyao said.

The theme of this year’s Labor Day  “Sa Sipag, Tiyaga at Talino, Buong Mundo Saludo sa Manggagawang Pilipino” according to Suyao, is a fitting description of the Filipino’s brand of workmanship and attitude.

“As of Friday (April 11) we already have a total of 5,345 job vacancies from the total of 118 agencies and employers,” Suyao said.

Of the number of employers, 88 were local companies and 30 were agencies for overseas employment. Meanwhile, the jobs for local employment totals 1,526 while for overseas employment counts 3,819.

Top 12 Jobs

With the combined job vacancies for both local and overseas employment, top 12 job with the most number applicants include Call Center Agent which of press time counts at 2,235; Customer Service Assistant, 162; Service Crew,  104; Administrative Clerk, 100;  Office Cashier, Kitchen Crew, Warehouse Helper, Non-Formal Education Teacher; Carpenter (general);  Insurance Salesman, Market salesperson; and  Accounting Assistant.

“We projected to cater only about 100 companies and agencies but as of the moment we already have 118 companies and are still counting. We are optimistic to reach our goal of 10,000 jobs by May 1,” Suyao added.

Mall Venues

Gaisano Mall of Davao will hold the Job Fair on May 1-2, 2014. While SM City Davao will hold the event on May 1.

Aside from the Davao City venues, Gaisano Mall of Tagum will also be hosting Job Fair on May 1 to cater applicants from the provinces of Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and even those from Davao Oriental.

“With the high number of job vacancies, we foresee that this job fair will provide opportunity for many jobseekers particularly the fresh graduates,” Suyao said.

“The DOLE works to make it easy and fast for jobseekers to find jobs that fit their qualifications, interests, and career inclinations,” he said, adding that:

“During the Job Fair event , some applicants may also find opportunity to avail themselves of training programs  from TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority).”

DOLE’s Employment Cluster Head Lariele P. Arce said that prior to May 1 Job Fair, there will also be Phil-Job Net Online registration on April 26,-30 2014 from 10 :00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening at Gaisano Mall of Davao and SM City of Davao.

“During this event there will also be a One-Stop-Shop with some other government agencies including TESDA; Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); Social Security System (SSS); Philippine Insurance Corp (PhilHealth); Pag-IBIG; National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); National Statistics Office (NSO); Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA); Department of interior and Local Government (DILG);  National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO);  and Employment Compensation Commission (ECC),” Arce said.

Further she said that Pre-Employment Seminar for Local Applicants (PESLA) will be conducted at the Davao City Public Employment Service Office (PESO) every Wednesday and Friday for the whole month of April.

Sherwin B. Manual/DOLE11