Migrant Worker Deployment:
Indications of Emerging Market
Trends in ASEAN
Hans Leo J. Cacdac
Administrator
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
prepared for the
40th APS Anniversary Lecture Forum
Ateneo Professional Schools, Rockwell Center, Makati City
12 November 2014
 labor mobility can both be a factor and driver
of economic growth
 toward
ASEAN integration, there are
“communities” that cover inter-related spheres
of integration
Image source: http://phangngacommunitycollege.blogspot.com
 deployment statistics
show that except for
Malaysia and Singapore,
documented workers
bound for ASEAN
Member States remain low
during the past 5 years
In 2013 …
 of the 1,469,179 global landbased deployment in
2013, about 16.89% (or 248,174) are toward
ASEAN member states
 Singapore deployment (173,666 workers in
2013) is 5 times larger than the second ASEAN
labor market (Malaysia 34,088 in 2013)
For the past 5 years…
 deployment to Singapore and Malaysia are
mostly services
respectively)
workers
(84%
and
78%
 on
the share of professionals to total
deployment, Malaysia and Thailand have
significant number of engineers
 Singapore is also a destination for engineers
and nurses
For the past 5 years…
 deployment to Brunei Darussalam with no
more than 6,000 new hire workers are mostly
production workers and sales workers
 total deployment to Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Myanmar and Viet Nam with less than 400
workers per year are mostly production
laborers
the general trend
and in real numbers…
2010
2011
2012
2013
B ru n e i D a ru s s a la m
7,907
15,406
14,907
17,000
C a m b o d ia
1,499
1,768
1,734
1,994
In d o n e s ia
4,084
4,793
5,166
5,489
734
992
1,073
1,255
9,802
16,797
38,407
34,088
194
334
288
867
70,251
146,613
172,690
173,666
T h a ila n d
5,133
6,445
9,204
8,659
V ie t N a m
4,056
4,349
4,962
5,156
La o P D R
M a la y s ia
M yanm ar
S in g a p o re
Three “Major” ASEAN Destinations
 Singapore, 45.0% are from Malaysia
 in Malaysia, 42.6% are from Indonesia
 in Thailand, 50.8% are from Myanmar
--ILO-ADB
in Singapore,
1.46M are nonresident
population
 12% of the non-resident population in
Singapore are E-pass holders (skilled
workers)
source: Singapore MOMT
 in Malaysia, Filipino migrant workers
ranked 7th in terms of population share of
foreign workforce
 10% are in the services sector
Migrant Workers Stock in Malaysia, 2011
source: ILO, N. Baruah , Trends and Outlook for Labour Migration in Asia
 Singapore and Malaysia’s health sector
have high percentages of foreign nurses
source: ILO-UE. A. Matsuno. Nurse Migration: The Asian Perspective
Future Demand Across ASEAN
 ILO-ADB study suggest that in 2025 under
AEC, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Philippines and Viet Nam could face a
mismatch in high skills jobs
 Population ageing and decline in the growth
of labour force in Singapore and Thailand can
further highlight skills needs
source: ADB-ILO. ASEAN Community 2015: Managing Integration for
Better Jobs and Shared Prosperity
Selected Priority Development Sectors, ASEAN
source: ADB-ILO. ASEAN Community 2015: Managing Integration for
Better Jobs and Shared Prosperity
Market Outlook/Lookouts
across ASEAN, the priority occupations that are being
opened up are those under MRAs:
 2005 Engineering Services
 2006 Nursing Services
 2007 Architectural Services
 2007 Surveying
 2009 Accountancy Services
 2009 Medical Practitioners
 2009 Dental Practitioners
 2012 Mutual Recognition Arrangement on
Tourism Professionals (ASEAN MRA-TP)
Market Outlook/Lookouts
The ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals covers 6
general labor groupings:
 Front Office
 Housekeeping
 Food Production
 Food and Beverage Services (for Hotel Services)
 Travel Agency
 Tour Operations (for Travel Services)
Market Outlook/Lookouts
Immigration rules for foreign workers are being
complemented by more stringent requirements
 e.g., Malaysia is implementing accreditation of
Philippine-based health facilities that undertake
health examinations for workers bound for Malaysia
Market Outlook/Lookouts
Immigration rules for foreign workers are being
complemented by more stringent requirements
 Brunei is putting in place localization programs with
the following components:
 foreign labor quotas, to be reduced effective June
2014
 freeze order for foreign workers: supervisors,
assistant supervisors, promoters, drivers, bakers
(bread and cake makers), cashiers, butchers, in the
wholesale and retail trade
 further freeze on foreign workers in
transportation, hospitality, support eservices and
ICT sectors
Market Outlook/Lookouts
There are specific market opportunities
 continued employment of Filipino workers in Brunei
even in areas covered by labor localization program
Deployment of OFWs to Brunei, New Hires, 2009-2013
(Source: POEA)
Market Outlook/Lookouts
 Indonesia competes with the Philippines in terms of
deployment of both skilled and semi-skilled workers
 Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar have advantage over
the Philippines in terms of market access to
geographically contiguous and culturally-similar Thai
labor market
Market Outlook/Lookouts
 Thailand TVET sector is actively seeking Filipino
instructors to strengthen its technical and vocational
education sector
 Vietnam authorized the hiring of teachers and is looking
for source of engineers, construction consultants,
supervisors, technical experts and quality control
specialist for their infrastructure developments
Rules of Labor Mobility
 “Free flow” under AEC is not absolutely free
 managed and not automatic
 rules-based
 still governed by domestic (immigration and
labor) regulations
 recognition of qualifications is key
Imperatives for OFW Protection
 develop a policy issuance that will require OFWs’
possession of appropriate license or certification prior to
deployment to ASEAN countries
 more on protection for vulnerable occupations :
domestic workers, low and semi-skilled work
 Ethical recruitment practices
 Standard contracts, bilateral arrangements
 Anti-human trafficking and anti-illegal
recruitment
 Instrument to implement the Cebu (ASEAN)
Declaration on Migrant Workers
 ILO Convention 189
Toward Outward Mobility of Workers
 alignment of curricula with international
benchmarks
 continuous learning, training and retaining
 increased efficiencies in private recruitment
Imperatives for Inward Mobility
 transition strategies to aid industry, the
education sector, and labor supply adjust to
competition
 industrial upgrading to strengthen and
expand the base for decent employment
 improving competitiveness through
continuous on-the-job skills acquisition and
development
References
 ASEAN, “ASEAN Integration in Services” 2009.
 ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services
accessed at www.asean.org
 DOLE Institute for Labor Studies, “Implications
of ASEAN Mobility-2015”
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