# Work permits, more expats working in the Philippines



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

PhilSTAR article today real interesting, gives some helpful information, short cut below:

More foreigners want to work in Phl – DOLE | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

Apparently there have been some changes, after reading the article one of the changes seems to be posting the expat name and company he will be working for in the local newspaper for 30 days if no objections they get the job. :fingerscrossed:


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## 197649 (Jan 1, 2013)

Humm that is interesting. I was going to start a thread on the below but I think it applies here.

Crappy Pay = Crappy Service
Not sure if this is true throughout the Philippines. My niece just finished her contract of 5 months. They only hire for this long as the COMPANY can then avoid paying into SSA and other government taxes. 
Her and my daughter applied at a new Dunkin Donuts. At the interview they were told they would be paid 100 pesos a day work 6 days a week and work 12 hours a day. I don’t know about you but that explains why there are so many culprits. 
Why so many live with their parents until they are 40+. Plus why when you visit other countries you see so many Filipinos working there. 
Isn’t there a minimum wage? 
On 3k a month how can you even support yourself? 
This may also account for the fact that women have 3-4-8 children without a father. 
This is in the thriving metropolis of Manila I can only imagine what it’s like in the far out provinces.
Granted this helps keep the price of things low and reasonably priced, plus the fact that instead of hiring 10 people to do the job they hire 3 and the customer has to wait and wait for service. 
Adding the fact of the above post makes you wonder what a foreigner is paid. I know someone will mention education is the key well I beg to differ with that. 
Thanks for listening you guys and gals are excellent therapists


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## JShannon (Jan 28, 2014)

The minimum wage differs in different parts of the country. Here it is 297P a day, that is for a full-time worker. I don't know if part-time is different from that or not.


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

Thought I read that Manila was recently raised to P450 a day.


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## 197649 (Jan 1, 2013)

cvgtpc1 said:


> Thought I read that Manila was recently raised to P450 a day.


That may very well be but as I indicated most will not hire a full time person as they have to pay ssa and taxes etc. Also not sure what full time means as they offered my daughter 100 pesos for 12 hours a day 6 days a week. If that's not full time what is


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

c_acton98 said:


> Humm that is interesting. I was going to start a thread on the below but I think it applies here.
> 
> 
> This is in the thriving metropolis of Manila I can only imagine what it’s like in the far out provinces.
> ...


I get regular job advertisements from Jobstreet and the pay for a call center rep can be from 12,000- 30,000 peso's, some higher, they look for personal assistants and those can be as high as 100,000 peso's per month, many of these spots are 12 hr shifts but they pay overtime for that.

Trouble is that these jobs are in Manila and I don't live in that area, If I do find a job I'll need to live with in-laws (don't want this) or rent a room.


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## 197649 (Jan 1, 2013)

mcalleyboy said:


> I get regular job advertisements from Jobstreet and the pay for a call center rep can be from 12,000- 30,000 peso's, some higher, they look for personal assistants and those can be as high as 100,000 peso's per month, many of these spots are 12 hr shifts but they pay overtime for that.
> 
> Trouble is that these jobs are in Manila and I don't live in that area, If I do find a job I'll need to live with in-laws (don't want this) or rent a room.


Yes but that's for a foreigner right? I am talking about a Filipino. I personally don't need nor want a job


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## PogiBaby (Apr 2, 2014)

c_acton98 said:


> Yes but that's for a foreigner right? I am talking about a Filipino. I personally don't need nor want a job


The P12000-30000 is for Filipinos.. if you can get a training position at a call center it usually starts at P30000. 

As far as education goes, my husband told me that most of the workers at even McDo have a college degree, there are just no jobs so they take whatever they can get. Because there are so many people with degrees looking for work the places like McDo now require a college degree to work there. I don't know how true this is, that is just what my husband said.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

As the saying goes, you pretend to pay me and I'll pretend to work.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

So much of this is true, for unskilled workers, especially in the Provinces, 75 to 100 pesos a day for 12 to 14 hour work days, 7 days a week. My wife did this for 6 years and I was shocked. She was paid 100 pesos a day and worked 14 hours a day 7 days a week. When I was working in the USA, what my wife made in a month, I made in a day. Now that my wife has a skill, and she is a certified, licensed caregiver, when she works, she works an 8 hour shift and makes 350 pesos for that 8 hour shift and she is not full time. Her slogan is 'You pay, I care you butt cheeks, you no pay, you carry you butt cheeks.'


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

*Work Visa*



CaptainLarsen said:


> Actually the posting in newspaper has been the rule for at least 9 years. One should also know that just because DOLE allows you to work does not mean you actually get a work visa. Immigration has the final say to issue the 9g visa and they are a lot stricter than DOLE. Once you get your 9g visa there are several reporting rules you need to comply with annually.


If you're already an Immigrant and carry the I-card will you still need another Visa the 9G?


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

JimnNila143 said:


> So much of this is true, for unskilled workers, especially in the Provinces, 75 to 100 pesos a day for 12 to 14 hour work days, 7 days a week. My wife did this for 6 years and I was shocked. She was paid 100 pesos a day and worked 14 hours a day 7 days a week. When I was working in the USA, what my wife made in a month, I made in a day. Now that my wife has a skill, and she is a certified, licensed caregiver, when she works, she works an 8 hour shift and makes 350 pesos for that 8 hour shift and she is not full time. Her slogan is 'You pay, I care you butt cheeks, you no pay, you carry you butt cheeks.'



actually all those ads that say 'upto' means that, up to

from gross the employer deduction for this and that can go until you are lucky to have half the gross

as Captain said, the posting has been in the papers for years, it covers name, nationality, employers name and job position / title , and you can see even VPs/CEOs names listed there .... 

now should a local complain/object, you are only allowed one appeal regardless how big your foreign investors put into Philippines

a filipino whined that Singapore is making it tougher for filipino workers to seek employment and when i reminded him how friendly Philippines was towards foreigners coming to work, including big time investment company employees, he refused to see the point ... 

after all, Filipinos must have free access to everywhere but sorry, Philippines is closed for foreigners ...


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

Myself, I would not mind that policy in the US.


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## curlybob (Sep 12, 2014)

thinking of retiring to the philos i have 50 years experience in building industry i would like to to offer my services on a voluontry basis just to keep active is this possible curly bob


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

curlybob said:


> thinking of retiring to the philos i have 50 years experience in building industry i would like to to offer my services on a voluontry basis just to keep active is this possible curly bob


The building industry in Australia and the Philippines is like comparing chalk and cheese. I don't know how much of you 50 years experience will be relivent in the Philippine, very little I would suspect.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

Gary D said:


> The building industry in Australia and the Philippines is like comparing chalk and cheese. I don't know how much of you 50 years experience will be relivent in the Philippine, very little I would suspect.





curlybob said:


> thinking of retiring to the philos i have 50 years experience in building industry i would like to to offer my services on a voluontry basis just to keep active is this possible curly bob


CurlyBob, Im gonna agree with Gary. The construction process here is more like the movie 20 Million Years BC. There are no minimum legal or earthquake standards and the main construction material is cement and more cement.
Hard, hot, back breaking work even for a young Filipino. 

Beyond that, I don't know that the locals would appreciate or allow someone to work for free as it would be costing one of them a job to pay for their next meal.

Anything is possible I guess but for something like this, I'd say the chances of finding a place to help out would be next to none..


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## curlybob (Sep 12, 2014)

ok ok just a idea maybe being a pimp running a bar is more acceptable


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## Cebu Citizen (Dec 13, 2013)

A question that always puzzled me about the Philippine education system is that there are all of these supposed college degrees...my fiancee has an 18 year old brother who just finished his Bachelors Degree and a 19 year old sister who will finish her Masters Degree before she turns 20...(?)...AND I have met dozens of other young people all throughout the Philippine Islands that have done the same.

How are these young kids getting such high level college degrees at such an early are? It seems like the Philippine education system is just passing these degrees out left and right! Which might explain why a college degree is only getting them a low paying job at McDonalds.

Here in the US it would take you a minimum of four full years of college to get a Bachelors and another one to two years for a Masters depending on your chosen field...AND this is after 18 years of grade school, middle school and high school! How are these young kids in the Philippines getting these college degrees before they are 18 or 19 years old?

Something smells fishy here...


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Cebu Citizen said:


> A question that always puzzled me about the Philippine education system is that there are all of these supposed college degrees...my fiancee has an 18 year old brother who just finished his Bachelors Degree and a 19 year old sister who will finish her Masters Degree before she turns 20...(?)...AND I have met dozens of other young people all throughout the Philippine Islands that have done the same.
> 
> How are these young kids getting such high level college degrees at such an early are? It seems like the Philippine education system is just passing these degrees out left and right! Which might explain why a college degree is only getting them a low paying job at McDonalds.
> 
> ...


And in the outside world these pieces of paper are worthless. 

A few years ago when the UK Health Service was recruiting in the Philippines the nurses that came to the UK had to have 6 months of training to familurise them with modern equipment and practices before they let them lose.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

Gary D said:


> And in the outside world these pieces of paper are worthless.
> 
> A few years ago when the UK Health Service was recruiting in the Philippines the nurses that came to the UK had to have 6 months of training to familurise them with modern equipment and practices before they let them lose.


Same in the US with retraining. They are not qualified to clean a bed pan until educated.
My guess with the college degrees at such an early age is money. Parents and family that have the $$$ to blow would likely just pay off the school officials for the degree.
Also, there are countless places in Manila where for less than $50.00us one can buy a fake degree or any other type of document.


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

Cebu Citizen said:


> A question that always puzzled me about the Philippine education system is that there are all of these supposed college degrees...my fiancee has an 18 year old brother who just finished his Bachelors Degree and a 19 year old sister who will finish her Masters Degree before she turns 20...(?)...AND I have met dozens of other young people all throughout the Philippine Islands that have done the same.
> 
> How are these young kids getting such high level college degrees at such an early are? It seems like the Philippine education system is just passing these degrees out left and right! Which might explain why a college degree is only getting them a low paying job at McDonalds.
> 
> ...



I know what you mean. I have young nieces and nephews who when they say they're in second year I think they mean high school but it's really college....


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

curlybob said:


> thinking of retiring to the philos i have 50 years experience in building industry i would like to to offer my services on a voluontry basis just to keep active is this possible curly bob



I see the responses and don't think people are seeing the point. I think it's a great idea to have a resource like you to advise how things are really supposed to be built for the expat community. 

Things might not be done to the exact Western standard in the PI but one needs to at least make sure that hollow block wall doesn't collapse on them.

This is the website I checked when I was renovating a house in Samar, until Yolanda destroyed it. I think there are some standards if you're willing to pay for it.....

Building a Philippine House – Index |


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## HondaGuy (Aug 6, 2012)

Kids in High School in the Philippines used to graduate at 16 years old, so they previously could go straight to college and graduate at 19 or 20. They have recently changed this so high school students graduate at 18.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

I have worked with a large number of Philippine engineers in Afghanistan.

I can say that I was generally impressed with their education and ability.

Cannot really comment on any other professions.


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

Cebu Citizen said:


> A question that always puzzled me about the Philippine education system is that there are all of these supposed college degrees...my fiancee has an 18 year old brother who just finished his Bachelors Degree and a 19 year old sister who will finish her Masters Degree before she turns 20...(?)...AND I have met dozens of other young people all throughout the Philippine Islands that have done the same.
> 
> How are these young kids getting such high level college degrees at such an early are? It seems like the Philippine education system is just passing these degrees out left and right! Which might explain why a college degree is only getting them a low paying job at McDonalds.
> 
> ...


Getting a degree is only half the problem

Part 2 is passing the relevant board exam minus which a nurse or doctor or architect can't practice

Manitoba, the good ones have left the cvountry than work for a pittance at home

That's why you see the best out of Philippines


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

Curly Bob, volunteer work can be a health hazard in Philippines as one of my friends found out

Apparently his free work meant a powerful politicians relatives were loosing out, and he got a death threat. True story

Enough volunteer groups or NGOs survive to have amazing luxury life ..


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## curlybob (Sep 12, 2014)

some of you blokes are on the same page as me the idea is not hand out fish but to teach how to fish regards curly


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## lefties43332 (Oct 21, 2012)

curlybob said:


> some of you blokes are on the same page as me the idea is not hand out fish but to teach how to fish regards curly


Exactly


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## curlybob (Sep 12, 2014)

*passing knowledge*

thank you lefties seems you have got my drift


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## atifn79 (Sep 12, 2014)

It is very obviously different countries have different pay scale and that too is different for skilled and unskilled workers. Still very informative experience.


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