Recruitment For Construction Jobs In Guam To Start Next Year

The news regarding thousands of job opportunities waiting for Filipino construction workers in Guam has been reported several times before. This is because of the transfer of the US military base from Okinawa Japan to the said US territory. However this time, the highlight is the fact that recruitment is soon to start.

The Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz, informed that the construction of a naval hospital with a budget of USD700 will be awarded this coming September and construction will start early next year. Baldoz get this news from the report of Labor Attaché in Saipan, Carmelina Velasquez.

In a statement that was published in the DOLE website, Baldoz said, "The construction of the hospital will begin by the first quarter of 2011.”

According to Baldoz, once it starts, the construction for the military facilities would run until 2020. It is also expected that constructions projects with a budget worth about a billion US dollars would be awarded every year. The said projects would require the hiring of 7,000 to 10,000 construction workers. There is a big possibility that most of the foreign workers to be hired would come from the Philippines.

A statement from the DOLE website said, "A Filipino contractor in Guam informed the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the area that easily 50 percent of the required manpower can be sourced out from the Philippines because of its workers' experience and track record of performance."

The Labor Attaché in Saipan also said that Guam would not be able to provide accommodation for the military training for the relocation. For this reason, US military plans to hold training groups of 200 Marines or more in the island of Tinian in the Commonwealth Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) where there is greater land available. If this project push through then employment opportunities would also be available for Filipino workers in CNMI.

Velasquez said, "Project bidding and awarding are scheduled this year, although data on manpower requirements are not yet available."