Massive OFW Layoffs Predicted Until 2009

It has been reported that 310 Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs have already been laid off in Taiwan. This is part of the global layoffs that are expected to follow in the coming months leading to 2009 in connection to the global economic crises.

This event in Taiwan is probably among the first of its kind, because the factories have been closing in our Asian neighbor. And as more companies related to the export industry are being affected or are being closed down because of the crises, more and more Filipino contract workers are expected to be without jobs soon. And the most affected would be the OFWs in Japan and the United States. It is predicted that about 50,000 or more Filipino workers will be displaced.

For an economy such as ours that relies so much on dollar remittances, this presents a very big problem. This year, we are just probably looking forward to the Christmas bonuses of our Filipino relatives working abroad, which they usually generously share to their family back home.

Hopefully, this condition will improve in the following months, otherwise, some families of OFWs will have a really sad Christmas this year.

I am not sure if the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration cares for the plight of the OFWs. They had not been really sympathetic towards the rest of the Filipino people. All they care about is how much "cut" they get in every transaction.