Online recruitment firm eyes Cebu

Sun.Star: The Philippine division of an online recruitment network is planning to establish regional operations in Cebu owing to the strong demand for quality manpower in the province. JobsDB Philippines Inc. (JobsDB) placement manager Patrick Ledonio said the expansion in Cebu was triggered by the "overwhelming" presence of many business process outsourcing companies here that need high-skilled professionals. "Cebuanos are clannish. Even if you have an office in Manila, they prefer (that) you are also visible in Cebu," he said, adding that this Cebuano mentality has eventually pushed the idea of a JobsDB-Cebu office. "We want to help many information technology companies here ramp up their manpower. Cebu is ready in terms of infrastructure like Internet connectivity. I know a lot of businesses in Manila that will soon expand here," he said in an interview. He said JobsDB is now conducting a market study to identify possible sites for its Cebu office. Among its choices are the Cebu Business Park and Asiatown IT Park. Job vacancies He said the company would need a 200-square meter office space that will accommodate five to six staff members. Since JobsDB operations are mainly done through the Internet, there is no need to hire too many people, he added. JobsDB has 32 Cebu-based companies in its database with each company needing at least 10 applicants per position, Ledonio said. "The Cebu office will have the same set-up in Manila, which is the third biggest in Southeast Asia," he added. The Cebu branch is set to open in the first quarter of next year. As an initial step in having their presence felt among local jobseekers and job hunters, JobsDB along with the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, conducted the Cebu Employment Fair last week, which was the first paperless local job fair. The group introduced the use of a Career Card that a person can present to any job fair where his or her resumé can be downloaded from the Internet. JobsDB has autonomous arms in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, China, India, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. It posts at least 3,000 jobs per day. In the Philippines, the network holds more than 700,000 membership profiles in its database and services more than 6,000 companies. Genny Gragasin, JobsDB product support and information technology officer, said the company is working on a database that will allow it to track how many of its applicants are absorbed by the industry players. - Sun.Star