Akeanons Matter: One-time Big Time Job Fair Eyed with 15, 000 Jobs

KALIBO, Aklan- The Aklan Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO-Aklan) is currently in the thick of preparations for conducting a ‘one-time big time’ job fair with an expected 15, 000 job opportunities for Akeanons.

Marsh Bernabe, PESO Manager, said that the  job caravan is slated at the ABL Sports Complex on September 15-16.

“The number of those who could get hired depends on the available skills for Akeanons. We estimate that some 10,000 jobs are abroad while 5,000 are local jobs, which include multinational companies all over the country and in Boracay,” Bernabe said.

The job fair, dubbed as Aklan Career Expo (ACE), started in 2014 but was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The said job fair put priorities on those who have just graduated from college.

“The activity will adapt the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) concept in line with the Blueprint for Decent Employment and Entrepreneurship for 2017–2022 signed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on December 2, 2016,” Bernabe added.

It was gathered that many of the Akeanons had sought applications to the POEA to work abroad as part of the residents’ economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, the PESO-Aklan supported the job fairs of AIDA Cruises and Magsaysay Maritime Corporation in the province. At least a thousand Akeanons have applied and at least three hundredths of them get hired.

Aside from the job caravan, there will be an entrepreneurship seminar led by the DTI, a financial literacy seminar led by ATIKH, TESDA Programs, and OWWA Programs and Services, and a POEA seminar.