Migrant Worker Deployment: Indications of Emerging Market Trends in ASEAN Hans Leo J. Cacdac Administrator Philippine Overseas Employment Administration prepared for the 40th APS Anniversary Lecture Forum Ateneo Professional Schools, Rockwell Center, Makati City 12 November 2014

 labor mobility can both be a factor and driver of economic growth  toward ASEAN integration, there are “communities” that cover inter-related spheres of integration

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 deployment statistics show that except for Malaysia and Singapore, documented workers bound for ASEAN Member States remain low during the past 5 years

 of the 1,469,179 global landbased deployment in 2013, about 16.89% (or 248,174) are toward ASEAN member states  Singapore deployment (173,666 workers in 2013) is 5 times larger than the second ASEAN labor market (Malaysia 34,088 in 2013) In 2013 …

 deployment to Singapore and Malaysia are mostly services workers (84% and 78% respectively)  on the share of professionals to total deployment, Malaysia and Thailand have significant number of engineers  Singapore is also a destination for engineers and nurses For the past 5 years…

 deployment to Brunei Darussalam with no more than 6,000 new hire workers are mostly production workers and sales workers  total deployment to Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam with less than 400 workers per year are mostly production laborers For the past 5 years…

the general trend

and in real numbers…

 Singapore, 45.0% are from Malaysia  in Malaysia, 42.6% are from Indonesia  in Thailand, 50.8% are from Myanmar --ILO-ADB Three “Major” ASEAN Destinations

in Singapore, 1.46M are non- resident population

 12% of the non-resident population in Singapore are E-pass holders (skilled workers) source: Singapore MOMT

 in Malaysia, Filipino migrant workers ranked 7 th in terms of population share of foreign workforce  10% are in the services sector

source: ILO, N. Baruah, Trends and Outlook for Labour Migration in Asia Migrant Workers Stock in Malaysia, 2011

source: ILO-UE. A. Matsuno. Nurse Migration: The Asian Perspective  Singapore and Malaysia’s health sector have high percentages of foreign nurses

Future Demand Across ASEAN  ILO-ADB study suggest that in 2025 under AEC, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines and Viet Nam could face a mismatch in high skills jobs  Population ageing and decline in the growth of labour force in Singapore and Thailand can further highlight skills needs source: ADB-ILO. ASEAN Community 2015: Managing Integration for Better Jobs and Shared Prosperity

Selected Priority Development Sectors, ASEAN

Market Outlook/Lookouts across ASEAN, the priority occupations that are being opened up are those under MRAs:  2005 Engineering Services  2006 Nursing Services  2007 Architectural Services  2007 Surveying  2009 Accountancy Services  2009 Medical Practitioners  2009 Dental Practitioners  2012 Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (ASEAN MRA-TP)

Market Outlook/Lookouts The ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals covers 6 general labor groupings:  Front Office  Housekeeping  Food Production  Food and Beverage Services (for Hotel Services)  Travel Agency  Tour Operations (for Travel Services)

Market Outlook/Lookouts Immigration rules for foreign workers are being complemented by more stringent requirements  e.g., Malaysia is implementing accreditation of Philippine-based health facilities that undertake health examinations for workers bound for Malaysia

Market Outlook/Lookouts Immigration rules for foreign workers are being complemented by more stringent requirements  Brunei is putting in place localization programs with the following components:  foreign labor quotas, to be reduced effective June 2014  freeze order for foreign workers: supervisors, assistant supervisors, promoters, drivers, bakers (bread and cake makers), cashiers, butchers, in the wholesale and retail trade  further freeze on foreign workers in transportation, hospitality, support eservices and ICT sectors

Market Outlook/Lookouts There are specific market opportunities  continued employment of Filipino workers in Brunei even in areas covered by labor localization program Deployment of OFWs to Brunei, New Hires, (Source: POEA)

Market Outlook/Lookouts  Indonesia competes with the Philippines in terms of deployment of both skilled and semi-skilled workers  Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar have advantage over the Philippines in terms of market access to geographically contiguous and culturally-similar Thai labor market

Market Outlook/Lookouts  Thailand TVET sector is actively seeking Filipino instructors to strengthen its technical and vocational education sector  Vietnam authorized the hiring of teachers and is looking for source of engineers, construction consultants, supervisors, technical experts and quality control specialist for their infrastructure developments

Rules of Labor Mobility  “Free flow” under AEC is not absolutely free  managed and not automatic  rules-based  still governed by domestic (immigration and labor) regulations  recognition of qualifications is key

Imperatives for OFW Protection  develop a policy issuance that will require OFWs’ possession of appropriate license or certification prior to deployment to ASEAN countries  more on protection for vulnerable occupations : domestic workers, low and semi-skilled work  Ethical recruitment practices  Standard contracts, bilateral arrangements  Anti-human trafficking and anti-illegal recruitment  Instrument to implement the Cebu (ASEAN) Declaration on Migrant Workers  ILO Convention 189

Toward Outward Mobility of Workers  alignment of curricula with international benchmarks  continuous learning, training and retaining  increased efficiencies in private recruitment

Imperatives for Inward Mobility  transition strategies to aid industry, the education sector, and labor supply adjust to competition  industrial upgrading to strengthen and expand the base for decent employment  improving competitiveness through continuous on-the-job skills acquisition and development

References  ASEAN, “ASEAN Integration in Services”  ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services accessed at  DOLE Institute for Labor Studies, “Implications of ASEAN Mobility-2015”

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