MANILA, Philippines - Recruitment companies are now creating a database that will trace the overseas Filipino workers who will be affected by the global financial crisis with an aim of possible redeployment.

Loreto Soriano of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. said professionals and highly skilled workers who have gained long experience in their overseas jobs are their target for possible redeployment.

“The Federation has already asked its member-associations to establish a database of prematurely-retrenched OFWs that could be made available in a pool from where overseas employment service providers can recruit qualified workers for their existing job orders,” he said.

Soriano said the displaced workers would be deployed in the Middle East particularly Saudi Arabia, which is now in need of thousands of construction workers.

On the other hand, Soriano urged the returning OFWs to undergo counseling and orientation to learn what they would expect in working to the Middle East since most of them prefer jobs in the United States, Canada and other countries.

“We have to change OFW attitudes about workplaces and biases against the Middle East and disregard our preferences in a time of crisis. Let’s encourage our OFWs to go to countries that have work and decent pay, rather than to countries that pay higher salaries but the jobs are not available,” he said.

At the same time, Soriano asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to work with the private sector in enforcing the contingency plan for retrenched OFWs. - GMANews.TV