Over 4k additional workers needed by locators in Batangas ecozone

MANILA, Philippines — More than 50 companies in Santo Tomas City, Batangas, including a dozen locators at Lopez-led First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) economic zone, need over 4,000 workers to fill up vacancies.

The city government of Santo Tomas and FPIP listed down the vacancies, numbering up to 4,184, during two Sulong Buhay Job Fairs they jointly conducted recently at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) campus in Santo Tomas City.

Of the total vacancies, roughly a third or 1,089 were jobs for overseas deployment, while the bulk of 3,095 were open jobs of local companies. Of the local vacancies, 1,113 were employment needs of FPIP locators.

The participating FPIP locators were Arkray Industries Phils. Inc., Brother Industries Phils. Inc., Canon Business Machines Phils. Inc., Citizen Finedevice Phils. Corp., EMD Technologies Phils. Inc., Ibiden Phils. Inc., Kanepackage Phils. Inc., My Brush Technology Phils. Inc., Nippon Premium Bakery Inc., Philippine Manufacturing Co., Murata Inc., Shi Manufacturing and Services Phils. Inc., Shimano Phils. Inc. and United Services Akcess Inc.

Among their employment needs were engineers, accountants, psychologists, office supervisors, human resource personnel and production operators.

Santo Tomas Mayor Arth Jhun Aguilar Marasigan welcomed the close coordination among officials from the local government, FPIP, and the private companies in holding the fairs.

“My administration’s top policy is providing access to decent jobs for Tomasinos and Batanguenos. Industries and locators in the ecozones have significantly contributed to the continued success of my administration’s core agenda of providing decent jobs for Tomasinos,” Marasigan said.

Ricky Carandang, FPIP vice president and head of external affairs, on the other hand, highlighted the importance of the job fairs.

According to him, the job fairs “offer our locators a venue for hiring employees who will contribute to company growth. Local residents who are constituents of our LGU partners also benefit because they get hiring priority during these fairs.”

Based on information from the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) of the City of Santo Tomas, at least 922 prospective employees and fresh college graduates showed up at the PUP venue and submitted their application forms.

Of the total, 217 were hired on the spot, while 609 were to undergo further processing, including 104 seeking overseas jobs. Close to 4,000 of the vacancies remain open for the taking.

The 520-hectare ecozone, straddling the cities of Santo Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas, now provides employment for almost 80,000 Filipinos, aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in tax revenues for the host LGUs.