Guam will need 11,500 Filipino workers, says PH labor attaché

A U.S. Navy construction site in Guam. The U.S. island territory will have 11,500 building-related job openings in the coming years. US NAVY

Guam, an island territory of the U.S. in the Western Pacific, is looking to employ up to 11,500 Filipinos in the next decade.

“In the next 10 years po, kailangan po ng around 11,500 workers or more,” announced Labor Attaché Armi Evangel Peña of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Los Angeles during a virtual press briefing on Aug. 13.

Peña said 2,000 to 3,000 job orders have been verified so far. Deployment will depend on recruiting agencies and the granting of visas by the U.S. Embassy in Manila,

The official also claimed that Guam’s labor office specifies getting Filipino workers “because they are hardworking and ingenious compare with other nationalities.”

Based on a dialogue with Guam Department of Labor’s David Bersolia, Peña explained that the bulk of hiring would be in 2023, when the island territory would be employing 6,500 workers.

“Guam will be needing electricians, welders, HVAC [heating, ventilation and air-conditioning] and refrigeration mechanics, construction equipment mechanics, plumbers and pipe fitters, operating engineers or heavy equipment operators, carpenters, reinforcing metal workers, masons, structural steel workers, camp cooks and all types of engineers,” she enumerated.