The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Negros Occidental has recorded the return of 4,938 overseas workers in the province in 2006.

Records of the local office of the POEA show they have helped 137 clients in processing their papers.

In 2006, the POEA central office recorded 1.09 million Filipinos deployed overseas.

The Department of Labor and Employment said the next three years will be brighter for Filipinos seeking employment abroad with about 815,000 "high-end" jobs available overseas.

These high-end jobs include workers for the telecommunications, medical and construction industries particularly engineers, pipefitters, welders, painters, electricians and surveyors.

DOLE said that as countries like Saudi Arabia and Japan continue to develop, skilled workers from the Philippines will have more opportunities for overseas work.

In Saudi Arabia alone, the king ordered the construction of four economic cities, each as large as that in Dubai, it added.

The anticipated retirement of the "baby-boomers" generation in Japan until 2009 is expected to boost the need for caregivers, and skilled workers for computer-aided designers, car designers and telecommunication engineers will also be in demand.*NLG

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