By Roy Pelovello

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday encouraged migrant workers to retrain and be competitive in the jobs market abroad.

Quoting a report from the Labor Department, Mrs. Arroyo said at least 500,000 jobs are available overseas but Filipino workers lack the skills for these jobs.

?The challenge is to match jobs with skills,? Mrs. Arroyo said in her message at the Jobs Forum held at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall in Malaca?ang yesterday.

For every overseas job a Filipino loses, there are 100 new jobs waiting for him, she stressed as she ordered the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to intensify training and retraining of workers in skills that are in demand here and abroad.

President Arroyo noted that Tesda?s budget has been increased to P2 billion, and if there is a need for more funds for workers? training, the government will shell out some more.

The next round of the jobs forum should focus on overseas employment and that labor attach?s and welfare officers in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas must be present.

President Arroyo said it is important ?the voices of those hurt [by the economic crisis] are inputted into the forum so opportunities and benefits of overseas employment for Filipinos are enhanced?.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, for his part, said that the forum discussed ways to enhance Filipino workers? access to overseas job opportunities.

?These are new vacancies and they have to be filled up. As the President said earlier, we lost 5,000 jobs overseas but there are half a million jobs available. These job orders are already in the POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration], it?s a matter of filling it up for the year,? Roque said.

Apart from the Middle East countries, which is a major market for Filipino workers, Labor officials are also looking at job opportunities in Canada and Australia.

?The challenge really is how to bridge the gap between the qualification and the requirement for those skills [in the available overseas jobs],? Roque said.

Tesda secretary general Augusto Syjuco also noted that there were many graduates of courses which do not match the requirement of employers abroad. ?The employers are looking for skills, not a diploma displayed on the wall,? Syjuco said.

He said those who are seeking job abroad must seriously consider skills retraining, like those provided by Tesda.

Syjuco noted that a plastic welder earns about $6,000 a month abroad.

He said that among the most in-demand skills abroad are those related to construction, including welding, roofing, tile laying, and carpentry.