U.S. officials support Manila bid to send more OFWs abroad

Some United States officials have expressed support for the Philippines' bid to send more Filipino migrant workers abroad in response to the global economy's growing needs, according to Labour Undersecretary Manuel G. Imson.

Imson said during the recent launch of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) pilot programme on decent work in the Philippines, U.S. representatives expressed openness to accept more Filipino workers into their labour force.

He said he spoke recently with officials of the U.S. State Department, Labour Department and the Pentagon regarding the Philippine efforts to improve the global deployment of OFWs.

A former labour attaché to Washington, Imson said U.S. officials were supportive of the Philippine bid, adding that U.S. officials recognised the competence of Filipino workers.

Imson said his U.S. sortie was part of the overseas marketing mission of the Department of Labour and Employment.

The effort embraces Europe and other areas that also expressed preference for Filipino workers.

"They have been very supportive," Imson said, noting that key U.S. agencies and groups he spoke with were particularly impressed with Filipino professionals, especially nurses, computer specialists and engineers.

He said despite conservative U.S. policy and its quota on foreign workers, the officials have indicated the possibility of increasing the numbers of Filipino professionals getting accepted in U.S. jobs, including teaching.

Imson said that in his meeting with Pentagon officials, he made them aware of the capacity of the Philippines to deploy skilled Filipino workers to work in U.S. facilities around the world.

"We are now in the process of identifying where these opportunities are," he said, adding that a possible follow-up meeting with the concerned U.S. agencies would be held by June.

Imson indicated that on top of the possibility that more Filipinos would find jobs in U.S. military installations, the hiring of Filipino workers in the U.S. homeland also seemed to be on the uptrend.

"At any given time we'd have 45,000 workers in the U.S. despite the yearly quota limiting foreign workers to 65,000," Imson said. The 45,000 workers exclude permanent Filipino migrants, he added.

In the past three years, Imson said, there was an upward trend in the acceptance of Filipino workers with high-end skills in the U.S. computer field. Imson said that while Filipino nurses in the U.S. have not increased so much, they continued to be preferred. "We are working for a bigger quota for our nurses in the U.S.," he said.