Philippine official moves to quash reports mainland China will offer domestic workers salaries three times higher than Hong Kong’s
Labour undersecretary says reported wage level of HK$15,500 a month is incorrect, as mainland mulls opening market to Filipino helpers
A top Philippine labour official has moved to allay fears in Hong Kong of a severe shortage of domestic helpers by pouring cold water on reports that Beijing was planning to offer salaries almost four times higher for the same jobs on the mainland.
The Philippine Star newspaper reported earlier this week that the mainland was set to open up the labour market in five major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, to Filipino helpers and dole out 100,000 pesos (HK$15,500) a month to entice them.
But Philippine labour undersecretary Dominador Say on Tuesday told the Post those figures were not correct. He did however confirm that a representative from the Chinese embassy in Manila had visited his department last month to discuss a preliminary idea to allow Filipinos to work as helpers in five cities.
Talks with the Chinese official were exploratory and discussions would continue next month when a Chinese delegation was due to visit the Philippines, he said.
“We talked about the possibility of hiring Filipino workers in China,” the undersecretary told the Post.