1 in 2 Female OFW’s Are Young & Unskilled Workers

Many Filipinos are sent overseas to make wages that they can send home to their families. Back at home, they simply cannot earn enough money to make ends meet, so they are forced to move away from it all to seek employment. It was reported in 2013, that were over 2.2 Million OFWs working abroad with nearly half of those workers being younger unskilled females.

…half (51.4%) of the female OFWs were unskilled workers such as household helpers, cleaners, launderers and related workers…

Female OFWs were generally younger than male OFWs, with more than half (53.8%) of the female OFWs belonging to the age group 25 to 34 years. [source]

In fact, numbers in recent years have jumped even higher to include men in the calculations of unskilled workers. Men have traditionally exceeded women in having applicable job skills and training. However, in recent years, the gap has been closing although women still comprise the majority of unskilled labor in recent statistics.

The National Statistical Coordination Board (Philippine Statistics Authority) estimates that about 80% of our OFWs work are unskilled laborers. [source]

That only leaves 20% of OFW who have applicable job skills. Amongst the OFW community, it’s quite common that men and women do not have job skills that can earn them a higher wage and therefore must take lower paying positions overseas that doesn’t afford them much of a life where they are.

However, not all is lost on dead end jobs. There are non-profit organizations such as Filipino Digerati out there spending weekend hours training the unskilled workers in skills like computers in order to help them achieve higher paying jobs.

More than 100 volunteers – mostly Filipinos – across the different Emirates forego part of their weekend and spend their Friday (the weekend in the Middle East is Friday and Saturday) conducting training in basic computer courses like Microsoft Office and livelihood skills like balloon-making and finance for non-accountants. [source]

The article goes on to outline that many of the attendees of these courses are nannies and other domestic workers looking to expand their skills. Programs such as this are primarily focused on helping OFWs achieve higher paying positions with the necessary skills they need to earn a decent living and support their families at home. These programs provide hope for OFWs who wish to return home to their families some day.