No job fairs on Labor Day amid enhanced community quarantine

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Visayas announced the suspension of the simultaneous job fairs that were scheduled to be held region-wide to mark Labor Day.

DOLE-7, in an emailed press release, explained that the region-wide activities, which are one of the major highlights of the celebration, could not be held due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases particularly in the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu.

“Actually, we have been planning out early on for the 2020 Labor Day celebration but everything has to be halted due to the pandemic. For jobseekers and other aspirants looking for job, they have to wait until things will return to normalcy again or we will be exposing ourselves to a lot of risks,” said DOLE-7 regional director Salome Siaton.

In a statement, Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said that mass gatherings, which include onsite job fairs, remain prohibited in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The same rule is encouraged to be observed in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), or areas which have more relaxed quarantine measures compared to locations under ECQ.

Director Siaton said the DOLE has a regular budget for job fairs under the DOLE-7’s Employment Facilitation Program.

“We will be ready to implement the usual conduct of Job Fairs once this crisis is over and by then, we will be able to encourage again more takers or employers actively participating in those initiatives,” she said.

Instead, Siaton urged jobseekers to take advantage of the PhilJobNet, an automated job and applicant matching system aiming to fast-track jobseekers’ search for jobs and employers’ search for manpower. It can be accessed thru https://www.philjobnet.gov.ph//.

Through PhilJobNet, jobseekers may submit his/her own application; search job opportunities; run job matching process; and get list of vacancies and corresponding employers’ contact information.

Employers, on the other hand, could post vacancies for free; search job applicants; run job matching process; and get list of applicants and corresponding contact information.

Siaton also explained that DOLE-7 regional and field offices will focus on the proposed priority programs, projects and activities after the lifting of the ECQ.

These include the enhancement of the employability of workers and competitiveness of MSMEs; ensuring protection of workers’ rights and maintenance of industrial peace; and strengthening social protection for vulnerable workers./rcg