by Nur Lemuel Castillo
No more age limit.
Hundreds of hopeful applicants from Los Baños and nearby municipalities came to the 3rd Quarter Los Baños Job Fair held at the Municipal Hall on October 28, 2016.
However, this time, there is no more age limit among job applicants.
“I am very happy that the age discrimination is finally over. I am hoping to get a job this time especially that I am a college graduate,” said Mrs. Sofia Dizon, 52-years-old from Calamba City.
According to Dizon, who is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Office Management, her previous employer ‘forced her to resign’ when she reached the age of 40. This, she believed, is a blatant form of discrimination.
Despite the removal of age limit, there are still some requirements that companies look for. “We no longer have age limit in accepting applicants but for certain positions like in managing and supervising, we require college graduates with 3 to 5 years of job experience,” Ms. Shiela Cruz, Human Resource Personnel from Tong Hsing Electronics Philippines Inc. clarified.
The move to end age discrimination among job hopefuls was supported by the companies who were present in the Job Fair, such as GenPact Company, Watsons, NextGen Innovations Philippines Inc., and Fundline Finance Corporation, among others.
In the past Job Fairs, most companies prefer applicants who are 18 to 24 years old. However, during the 3rd Quarter Job Fair, some of the posters no longer have age requirements printed on them, with some even covering the age requirement portion with masking tape.
Careers in the field of engineering, health service, factory production, and sales and advertising were among the most common job opportunities offered by the companies who were invited in the said job fair. “We have 30 vacancies as of the moment, and we hope to at least accept as many as qualified applicants as possible,” Marie Reveliesa from Montevista Resort said.
The Municipal Public Employment Service Office and the Office of the Municipal Mayor headed by Hon. Caesar Perez organized the quarterly job fairs as part of the program to increase the employment rate of Los Baños.
According to PESO Los Baños, as of September there are already 2,254 job applicants who were accepted in the Job Fairs conducted by the Municipal Government of Los Baños in 2016.
Likewise, there are also 68,492 employed individuals in Los Baños, 46,192 of which are locally employed and 22,300 are overseas Filipino Workers as of September 2016 DOLE record.
In addition, the fourth and final Municipal Job Fair for 2016 is scheduled to be held on December 01.