THE Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) announced that it has recorded a total of 145,230 workers employed in various business sectors inside this Freeport zone as of April 2022.
According to SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen Paulino, these workers are currently employed by the 3,689 companies investing in the Freeport. He added that with more companies looking forward to make it happen in the Philippines by investing in Subic Freeport, the number could further increase by the end of the year.
Around 64,474 of the 145,230 employees came from Olongapo City, according to Paulino, which is about 44.39 percent of the total workforce. He added that the number of workers coming from Olongapo City increased by 9.35 percent compared to the 58,960 recorded from the same month last year.
He added that workers from the province of Zambales, the second-highest contributor to the total workforce, has a total of 27,087 employees, or five percent higher than last year’s 25,798. Next is Bataan with 18,062 employees, up 2.5 percent from last year’s 17,611.
Other areas that contribute to Subic’s workforce include the National Capital Region with 5,091 workers; Pampanga with 4,170 workers; Tarlac with 1,900 workers; and various other areas in the country with 24,446 employees.
Currently, the service-related sector has the most number of employees hired with 107,056 workers, followed by the manufacturing sector with 20,677 workers, construction with 12,480 workers, and the shipbuilding/maritime-related services with 5,017 workers.
“The agency is looking forward to the next few months as more and more companies are investing here in Subic Bay Freeport. I am quite certain that the numbers will go up, especially now that most of the workers here are fully vaccinated,” Paulino said.
“Right now, the agency is regularly posting job vacancies and conducting job fairs since most of the companies here that were badly affected by the pandemic are now reopening, while some are currently expanding. Our Labor Department under the leadership of Atty. Melvin Varias is busy with sorting out applicants who are looking to land a job from the numerous job vacancies in Subic Freeport,” he further added.
Meanwhile, Paulino also disclosed that one of the companies to look out for is the Japanese company Nidec Subic that manufactures reducer gears for robotic application. He said that the company is eyeing a P4-billion expansion project that will increase its workforce by 84 percent from the current 625 to 4,028 in the next three years.