THE NUMBER of Filipinos sent to work overseas has increased by 13% from a year earlier to 475,981 as of Sept. 1, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
“If there was a 74% decrease in deployment last year, now it is gradually rising,” POEA Undersecretary Bernard Olalia told a televised news briefing in Filipino on Tuesday.
He traced the increase to more relaxed travel restrictions.
Overseas Filipino worker deployment fell by 75% 549,841 last year from a year earlier amid a coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Olalia said Filipino health workers were the most in demand in Europe and the Middle East, followed by technology workers and seamen. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago