Taking advantage of the holiday, Dominador Sabalbareno lined up to see if he could chance upon a job opening abroad yesterday morning.
“I’m trying to see if they have slots for a freight train operator. I want to work overseas,” he said, showing a small piece of paper where he wrote the list of companies to look for once he entered the booth.
Yesterday was the first day of the job fair in SM Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the last of the three-leg organized by Manila Bulletin for the year.
While most applicants would eye positions in a call center company, Sabalbareno focused on a career where he is confident to excel. The 54 year-old father of four had experienced working as a crane operator in Malaysia and Jeddah and was hoping that his experience would be enough to earn him a ticket overseas, one more time.
Sabalbanero, who hails from Antipolo City, Rizal, is currently employed for eight years now in a Laguna-based company.
The lure of greener pasture is just one of the many challenges most local companies face today.
“It’s difficult to get skills-based employees because we have to compete with international companies recruiting them,” shared Nely Calmerin, senior personnel supervisor of Showa Aluminum, a manufacturing firm.
Showa is a first-time participant in a job expo and looks forward to hiring qualified applicants for its Cavite office.
“We only used to do our recruitment in schools. But since Manila Bulletin has this job fair here in Laguna, which is near our office, we decided to join,” she said.
Like Calmerin, Joan Soliman expressed disappointment over the brain drain of Filipinos.
Soliman, Human Resource (HR) officer for recruitment of Medicard said it’s been a challenge for them to hire medical technicians since most would rather work abroad after gaining experience in the country.
“Graduates would also opt to work in hospitals (in spite of) the same work environment and competitive salaries we provide,” she said.
The HMO company urgently needs employees who will make up its customer management group in the Festival Mall office in Alabang, Muntinlupa. The call center which will need 20 to 50 agents, will open next year.
Calmerin and Soliman remain hopeful that job fairs like this will bridge the gap of employment mismatch in the country.
“There are a lot of prospects here in Laguna,” said Calmerin, whose employes are mostly male.
“Hopefully we can hire new graduates since they just had their board exams recently,” Soliman added.
It is also the first time for Medicard to join the career expo.
Events like the 6th MB Job Fair have been effective venues for both public and private companies in the country.
In her message during the opening ceremonies, Sta. Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas thanked the country’s leading newspaper for choosing the city for its Southern Luzon leg.
“Sta. Rosa is very lucky to be home to different industries and investors. We’re trying to get more people employed and we need all the help we can get from private companies to provide employment,” she said.
On the other hand, SM Sta. Rosa’s Assistant Mall Manager Evelyn Verzola shared that the publication has been a constant partner of the entire SM Malls in boosting sales and in providing more benefits for the global Pinoy.
“Manila Bulletin’s strong desire to be part of SM projects is a sign of a strong partnership between the organization and SM Supermalls. We want to thank MB for choosing SM City Sta. Rosa to be the exclusive venue for this job fair for Southern Luzon,” Verzola added.
Lyne Abanilla, Manila Bulletin VP for Classified Advertising said : “This is our way of sharing our strength. We all know that our classifieds ads is one of the strengths of Manila Bulletin. We want to share that strength with our partners, our loyal clients and friends who are on the look for a better job.”

Source: Manila Bulletin - October 16, 2013