The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday said it will offer jobs and livelihood to workers that will be affected by the ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

“We will find an appropriate job for these potentially affected workers,” DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“Apart from the interventions by DOLE that are related to upskilling, retraining, and livelihood programs, we have specific jobs fair for them for both local and overseas employment,” Laguesma added.

The Labor secretary said the DOLE is profiling the affected POGO workers to determine the jobs that would match them and the training they would need for better work opportunities.

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

According to him, DOLE is still asking other companies to submit.

He added that most of the jobs held by these workers are related to encoding, information technology, administrative, and finance, among others.

Laguesma said DOLE is also eyeing business process outsourcing (BPO) jobs for the affected POGO workers.

In his third State of the Nation Address, 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 the year's end.

“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.