50,000 jobs in Guam await Pinoys

Over 50,000 jobs await Filipinos who want to work in Guam, a local recruitment industry reported yesterday.

The Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) revealed that employment prospects are very bright for Filipino construction workers and other skilled workers who wish to work in Guam especially with the impending transfer of a US military facility from Okinawa, Japan to Guam.

“Although the transfer will take place in 2010, definitely the massive construction of new facilities for the US Marines will start ahead of time so we expect recruitment of workers to start as early as next year (2008),” PASEI president Victor Fernandez said.

PASEI chair Edwina Beech said Guam would need over 100,000 foreign workers because of the anticipated construction boom.

She said they expect the Philippines to get more than half of the job market.

“Guam has a manpower shortage and they have no other place to get the needed workers but in the Philippines,” Beech noted.

She also said that Filipinos would definitely have an advantage over Chinese and Koreans because they speak English better.

Beech said employment for other fields would increase once the facilities are finished. – Mayen Jaymalin