359 HOTS in May 1 job fair

By Raymart Escopel

THREE hundred fifty applicants were hired on-the-spot (HOTS) from the recently concluded Labor Day job fair spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 6 on May 1.

The job fairs were simultaneously held in three venues namely, SM City Iloilo, Iloilo Provincial Capitol and SM City Bacolod. The fair was able to post 49,956 jobs from close to 200 participating local companies and overseas recruitment agencies.

Christine Joy Marcon, 21, of Buhang, Jaro, Iloilo City, said she is happy to be one of the HOTS. She was hired as an account executive in a cable company.

Though currently employed in a business process outsourcing company, Marcon, a fresh graduate of Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering decided to try her luck on the job fair despite the huge wave of applicants. She added that she was thinking of resigning on her current job and grab the offer of the company which hired her on-the-spot during the job fair.

Among the 359 HOTS include two jobseekers whose families were displaced during the onslaught of super typhoon “Yolanda” in Northern Iloilo.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6) Regional Director Ponciano M. Ligutom said the number of hired workers only represent less than one percent of the total jobs available for the job fair, he is still optimistic that the number will increase in the coming days as some 5,130 workers were scheduled for final interview.

“I am confident that more jobseekers will be placed in coming days considering a big number of interviewed applicants were scheduled for further interview. We hope that our appeal to employers to translate their vacancies to employment of jobseekers and contribute to the region’s employment rate will reap good result,” he said in a press release.

Most of the jobseekers were hired in the local industries involving wholesale and retail trade, construction, financial and insurance activities, accommodation and food service activities, and information and communication and other services activities.

It could be learned that the total number of HOTS represents 16.3 percent of the total qualified applicants. The said rate is higher compared to the last year’s Labor Day job fair which only earned nine percent.

The job fair was able to register 79 applicants in the informal economy for possible livelihood assistance and 66 others for the skills training under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority./PN