Repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are having a hard time securing jobs in the Philippine labor market according to a study released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
This leads to loss of savings and exposes the gaps in the government’s repatriation program.
The report cited that around 325,000 OFWs have been repatriated in 2020 since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Although aggregate figures indicate that in 2020, remittance inflows to the Philippines declined much less than initially anticipated, implications of this decline could differ and might even be severe for some households, depending upon their income and financial conditions,” the ADB said in its report according to Business World.
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The report also said that cash remittances also declined for the first time in two decades.
Many repatriated OFWs were not able to get their last salaries due to the impact of the pandemic.
“It is also possible that remittance-recipient households on the lower end of the income scale could risk sliding back into poverty,” the report said.
The study also found that repatriated OFWs had a hard time finding a new job in the Philippines. Unemployment rate was at 17.6% in April 2020.
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“While the government aimed for return migrants to find suitable employment as quickly as possible to make their return viable and sustainable, the domestic labor market struggled due to the pandemic. Some firms impacted by loss of sales after months of strict mobility restrictions had to shut down,” the study said.
There are challenges in the government’s job matching initiative.
“There is room to improve existing systems that match the supply of skills with job prospects to encourage OFW returnees to apply the competencies they acquired abroad in their local occupations,” the ADB said.
