France set to hire Nurses & IT pros

France wants to hire thousands of “competent Filipino workers,” including nurses and information technology professionals.

French Ambassador Gérald Chesnel said discussions on the possible signing of an agreement are underway as his government has already expressed its intent to open his country’s doors to skilled Filipino workers to address France’s labor market needs.

“We are in the process of discussions with the Philippine government. We have already signed the letter of intent and we hope to sign the formal agreement this year,” he said.
Last February, Brice Hortefeux, French Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Co-Development, expressed Paris’ interest in forging an agreement with Manila to address the needs of its labor market.

The parties involved in the signing are the French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Co-Development, the Department of Labor (DoLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Philippines is among the Asian countries qualified under the third-category quota policy set by the Attali Commission. Countries in the third category are those with which France has “traditional links,” including several Asian and African nations.

Chesnel said his government has softened its immigration laws benefiting Filipinos who intend to work in France.

“Those who are coming are people who can be useful to France and who can be also usefully trained and useful to the Philippines when they come back. Our policy is not to make brain drain. We think the best thing we can do is to have your competent people to come to France to work for six, nine, 10 years and then they go back to the Philippines,” he explained.

Chesnel said under the new immigration system, the Filipino workers will leave 20 percent of their salary with either their employer or government and they will get it when they go back to the Philippines. “There’s certain condition they have to use the money to create their own enterprise,” he said.

Needed in France are those engaged in electronics, IT professionals and particularly nurses who, he said, “we don’t have enough in France.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs records showed that there are about 65,000 Filipino workers in France, half of whom are illegally staying.