To further boost employment facilitation, the labor and employment department is preparing for the 2014 Kalayaan Job Fair.

Offering it as major contribution to the 116th Philippine Independence Day celebration, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Davao Region partners with NCCC Mall and ABS-CBN Davao in holding the Job Fair expected to draw about 3,000 jobseekers.

“A total of 100 employers and agencies will be participating in the Kalayaan Job Fair; 70 of which are local employers and 30 agencies are for overseas employment,” Assistant Regional Director Venerando C. Cebrano said.

To date, some 6,881 job vacancies have been solicited from these agencies. Of the number, there are 3,381 job vacancies for local employment and 3,500 vacancies for overseas employment.

“We expect to surpass our 2013 Kalayaan Job Fair registrants which reached 2,200,” DOLE Employment cluster head Lariele P. Arce said.

Mini Job Fair and Phil-Job Net Online registration

“As early as June 5 until June 11, NCCC Mall’s Kadawayan Hall will open for the Mini Job Fair to cater those who want to pre-register and hasten the application process come June 12,” Cebrano said.

During the Mini Job Fair, applicants can also register on the Phil-Job.Net, the employment portal of the government. Phil-Job.Net is another employment facilitation initiative of DOLE to make matching of jobseekers and employers easy.

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

Labor Day Job Fair success

Arce noted that DOLE is inspired to hold another major Job Fair as the Labor Day Job Fair was successful.

“Our Labor Day Job Fair performance was stellar as we made it among the top 5 overall among all 16 regions in the country. This counts for the number of solicited job vacancies, number of registered applicants, number of participating employers and those Hired On The Spot (HOTS),” Arce said.

The May 1 Job Fair yielded a total of 1,512 HOTS and 5,358 jobseekers who were referred for further interview.

“We have high hopes that those for further interview will actually land on the job. I expect to provide more employment opportunities during Kalayaan Job Fair,” said Arce.

Sherwin B. Manual/DOLE11