As a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Philippines, the two countries are expected to ink several government agreements – one of which is a bilateral deal to hire 10,000 Filipino workers in the East Asian country.
During the weekly Pandesal Forum, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the one-child policy in China has led to a shortage in labor there, thus the need to hire workers overseas.
“They are planning to hire our countrymen…China is willing to hire our OFWs. It’s government-to-government [arrangement], not through a third party. [Because of their] one-child policy, they might be able to use our surplus labor here,” Diokno told reporters.
Diokno added that due to this shortage, companies in China are also willing to pay more just to be able to hire workers.
Among the workers needed are domestic helpers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.
“In fact, the fear of some people is that those who are working now in Hong Kong will now transfer to [mainland] China because the terms will be much much higher,”Diokno said.
