The UAE ranks first in having the most number of Filipino women working overseas with over 226,800 workers, according to figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This comprises 18.9% of the total number of female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) around the world which stood at over 1.2 million as per the PSA’s report for 2016.
Approximately 70% of OFWs in the UAE are women, largely because of the diversification strategy of UAE government, said Dr. Naomi Hosoda, asst. professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Asian and African Studies.
“City states such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi call for millions of semi-skilled service workers to cater to the needs of tourists, investors and traders. Because women from the UAE or some other countries cannot take such jobs due to their religion and/or culture, employers tend to welcome Filipino women who are good at working in the service industry in general. Also, Filipino women’s educational level is high, comparing with that of other major sending countries in the world,” Hosoda said.
Meantime, Saudi Arabia comes in second with over 218,400 women (18.2%) working in the kingdom; followed by Kuwait with 126,000 (10.5%); while HongKong and Singapore rank 4th and 5th with 117,600 (9.8%) and 85,200 (7.1%) respectively. (RB)
