POEA reports at least 75% decline in deployment due to COVID-19

January 9 ------ The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Thursday said that overseas employment was one of the worst hit industries in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia, during the Laging Handa Public Briefing, said that there was a 70 to 75 percent decline in the number of deployed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in 2020 compared to previous years.

“The decline in our deployment is 70 to 75% compared to our historical data in recent years,” Olalia said in Filipino. Olalia explained that the country’s deployment last year drastically decreased, affecting both land and sea-based sectors. Citing data from POEA, he noted that the deployment in 2020 was relatively lower compared to the years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Despite this, Olalia expressed optimism that the overseas employment industry will slowly recover this year. “We at POEA have adopted measures to enable us to deploy and revitalize the overseas employment industry,” Olalia said said. “Sana po unti unti ulit itong sumigla,” he added.

Source: mb.com.ph