DoLE, PEZA support displaced workers

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Tuesday said it will find jobs and livelihood for workers that will be affected by the ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

“We will find appropriate jobs for the affected workers,” DoLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“Apart from the interventions by DoLE related to upskilling, retraining, and livelihood programs, we will have specific job fairs for them for both local and overseas employment,” Laguesma added.

The labor secretary said the DoLE is currently profiling the POGO workers to assess their skills and training needs, to facilitate their transition to new jobs.

Of the 79 internet gaming licensees, Laguesma noted that around 28 POGO firms in the National Capital Region had provided a list of their workers.

He said DoLE was asking the other companies to submit their lists.

He noted that most of the jobs related to encoding, information technology, administrative, and finance, among others.

Laguesma said DoLE was also eyeing business process outsourcing jobs for the POGO workers.

In his third State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced an immediate ban on POGOs.

Marcos imposed a strict deadline for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to shut down all POGO operations by yearend.

“The DoLE, in coordination with our economic managers, shall use the time between now and then to find new jobs for our countrymen who will be displaced,” Marcos added.

PEZA to the rescue

For its part, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is ready to train workers affected by the cessation of POGO operations.

“PEZA does not host any POGO locators in the ecozones. Nonetheless, we are ready to assist in training and providing employment opportunities for the displaced Filipino workers through our IT-BPM sector,” PEZA Director General Tereso Panga told reporters.

“We welcome the President’s directive on the immediate closure of POGOs,” he added.

Panga expressed gratitude to the President for addressing concerns affecting PEZA locators, such as tariffs imposed by local government units on the use of national roads by businesses.