7,536 jobs up for grabs in 3rd Happy Jobs Fair

CEBU, Philippines - Thousands of jobs are again up for grabs as online job portal Mynimo.com launches the third leg of the Happy Jobs Fair on May 28 at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall.

Mynimo.com president Wesley Chiongbian said 77 companies are participating in the jobs fair with around 7,536 job vacancies to offer to aspiring jobseekers.

Nenita Therese Mantalaba, President of People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) Cebu Inc. said that, “This is one way of helping addressing our unemployment problem in the Philippines.”

She said it is more convenient to do the selection process in one venue.

As of May 20, 2016, the third leg of Mynimo’s Happy Jobs Fair already registered 5,926 applicants, 93 percent of whom are from Cebu. Pre-registered applicants will have the head start during the fair as they can start as early as 9AM, while walk-in applicants will be accommodated starting 10AM. The Happy Jobs Fair will end by 6PM.

Pre-registration can be done online via http://www.mynimo.com/happy-jobs-fair-registration/

Mynimo.com also presented a list of labor challenges in Cebu, which is topped by Teaching Jobs.

"The demand of teachers doubled this year, but the number of people who want to work and become teachers actually decreased this year compared to last year," says Chiongbian.

This followed by the great demand of Customer Service for BPO companies, then HR Recruitment, Technical Support, and Mechanical and Industrial Engineers are also wanted.

Also, Secretary or Receptionists are needed, Food Servers, Finance and Banking, Warehouse Personnel, and Sales for Corporate and B2B.

Meanwhile, overseas job offers from Saudi Arabia, Macau, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates have declined.

 “It might have been affected by the lowering of the fuel prices, so they have been lame off or putting their hiring on hold for those industries,” Chiongbian said.

He also added that, “Since that’s the main industry of Saudi Arabia, I’m sure the effect of lowering of gas prices there, affects other industries that support the particular business,”

But, Qatar soared up its growth of demand by 34 percent compared to last year.

While demand for engineers and skilled workers plunged in the first quarter, demand for hotel workers, on the other hand, has gone up.

Mantalaba lamented that skills mismatch remains a perennial problem.

“If we are looking for skilled workers, and these workers are not really well immersed during their school time, chances are they find it hard to blend in the industry.”

“If you are going to look at the result, there are very few who are accepted. Simply because the very skill that is needed cannot be filled up,” she said.

She also stated that Cebu is the preference resources of a skilled worker, in which employers especially from Manila are interested to hire employees from Cebu because of their attitude.

“According to them, Cebuanos are more industrious, capable and could understand English,” Mantalaba said referring to feedback from employers in Manila. (FREEMAN)