BAGUIO CITY – With the increasing incidences of retrenchment of workers in the country as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning from lay offs abroad, government agencies are implementing measures to assist those affected by the economic slowdown.

Philippine Employment Agency (POEA), together with Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), launched a help desk as part of its quick-response program to help all workers who have been affected by the lay-offs.

DOLE Region 1, for its part, said that it is always ready to help the workers who have been removed from work.

Henry John Jalbuena, DOLE Region 1 director, said that the retrenchments which occurred in some companies like Texas Instruments and Baguio Export Processing Zone will never happen to the rest of the region. He said only the automotive, electronic, semi-conductor and garments industries are affected with the global economic crisis.

In fact, he added, there were only fourteen cases of lay-offs in Region 1 and they were welders of Amianan Motors.

DOLE Director Anna Dione said that despite the threat of possible lay-offs in Cordillera, only five workers removed from work have asked help from them.

POEA meanwhile announced that there is still a large percentage of job vacancies abroad.

Job openings abroad, Dione also said, are expected to continue particularly in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Brunei and other Middle East countries. She said most of the needed workforce in those countries are domestic helpers and skilled workers.

DOLE Region 1 revealed that most of the OFWs affected by the lay-offs were those with temporary visas from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. It said these countries took a downturn due to the slowdown in exports to the United States.

As a response, the DOLE, OWWA and POEA promised to help the workers affected by the lay-offs through the help desk program launched in January 29. Butch Mendizabal, ABS-CBN North Luzon