Saudi hiring of Filipino female nurses declining--DFA

Hiring of female Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia is declining while demand for male nurses is on the rise, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday as reported on the www.inq7.net.

In his report to the DFA home office in Manila, Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla of the Philippine embassy in Riyadh said visas issued to female nurses in 2003 numbered 1,395. This rose to 2,288 last year, but dropped by 28 percent this year to 1,641.

On the other hand, visas issued to male nurses in 2003 numbered only 13. This climbed by more than 800 percent with 100 visas issued in 2004, and 52 percent with 152 visas released this year.

Guinomla’s report also indicated that the demand for male technicians is rising with 27 visas given in 2003, 124 last year, and 188 in 2005. For female technicians, 267 working visas were issued in 2003, 642 in 2004, and 540 this year.

It is estimated that 70 percent of the country’s two to three million overseas Filipino workers are women.