Remittances will likely decline 6.9 percent this year, the first contraction in the past 19 years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the employment of Filipino workers abroad, ING Bank said in a report over the weekend.
The bank said job prospects for OFWS remained bleak even after lockdowns were lifted as the majority of them were employed in sectors would struggle in a world of social distancing.
Based on a survey conducted for registered OFWs, 37.6 percent were employed in the so-called “elementary occupations” that include domestic helpers and hotel/restaurant cleaning staff, while 18 percent worked in services and sales sectors.
“This suggests that OFWs may continue to struggle to find employment as sectors such as hotels and restaurants may struggle to recover quickly due to social distancing, leading to less remittance flows from OFWs based in these professions” it said.