A total of 2,166 job hopefuls registered on site for the 2013 Kalayaan Job Fair held simultaneously in two major malls in the city.Data released by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the regions as of 2 p.m. yesterday, more than half or 1,716 applied for domestic work while 450 applied for positions overseas as they lined up either at Abreeza Ayala Mall or the NCCC Mall of Davao.

“We are happy with the turnout because a lot of Davaoenos have shown interest in the job fair,” said Joffrey Suyao, regional director for DOLE-XI.

“There is also a 100% turnout of employers,” he said.

A total of 97 companies participated in the Independence Day event and according to the same data, 584 were immediately hired at the venue, 427 for local employment and 157 for overseas.

The DOLE was able to solicit 15,113 job orders for the event with 2,421 required in the local work pool and 12,692 for overseas.

Lines started forming at both venues even before mall hours, including those who availed of their pre-registration procedures last June 5-11 where 1,370 people signed up at Abreeza and 1,392 at NCCC, said Suyao.

Employers participating in the event represented business outsource processing, mining, retail and construction.

While the DOLE expects some employers would leave early or there will be applicants who might not be interviewed, they introduced a mechanism to give others a fair shake.

“We introduced the resume drop boxes. Because we saw in previous job fairs that some applicants did not get to be interviewed, and it was really a lost opportunity,” he said.

He said job hopefuls only have to submit their complete requirements which will be placed inside a sealed envelop.

“The DOLE will segregate these and bring it to the company,” said the regional director.

According to data released last Tuesday by the National Statistics Office in its April 2013 Labor Force Survey, the biggest number of unemployed in the country consist of those who only finished highschool at 31.7% , college graduates at 21.3%, and college undergraduates at 14.6%.

http://www.mindanaotimes.net/kalayaan-job-fairs-attract-more-than-2000-hopefuls/