Locators in Lopez-led ecozone in Batangas hiring 1,700 new workers

Prospective employees go over job openings displayed over a wall during the recent “Sulong
Buhay Job Fair” that First Philippine Industrial Park held in coordination with the local government of Santo Tomas City. FPIP locators posted 1,685 job openings during the fair.–Contributed photo

Companies located inside the First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) economic zone in the cities of Santo
Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas need nearly 1,700  additional workers, the ecozone said in a statement.

Lopez-led FPIP posted the employment opportunities during the “Sulong Buhay Job Fair” that FPIP held
in coordination with the local government unit (LGU) of Santo Tomas City.

At least 14 FPIP locators, most of them manufacturers of various products for the export market, joined
the fair, organized by FPIP and the Santo Tomas LGU in order to gather in one venue both prospective
employers and job hunters.

During the job fair, the locators hired on the spot 196 applicants; but around 1,500 positions
remain open for grabs, said Santo Tomas Vice Mayor Catherine “Cathy” Jaurigue-Perez.

FPIP locators that joined the job fair were Brother Industries (Phil.) Inc.; Canon Business Machines Phils. Inc.; EHS Lens Phils. Inc.; EMD Technologies Phils. Inc.; Honda Logistics Phils. Inc.; Honda Phils Inc.; Ibiden Phils Inc.; JMS Healthcare Phils. Inc.; Nikkoshi Phils. Corp.; Nippon Micrometal Corporation Phils.; Nippon Premium Bakery Inc.; NYK TDG Phils. Inc.; PKI Manufacturing & Technology Inc.; and Shimano (Phils.) Inc., as well as Beta Electromechanical Corporation, a subcontractor for an FPIP locator.

Based on information from the Peso or Public Employment Service Office of the Santo Tomas LGU, the
locators posted 1,685 job openings while 734 potential employees showed up at the fair. Among these
jobseekers, 538 will undergo further processing and screening, leaving hundreds of other FPIP vacancies
open for others to take.

FPIP expects employment opportunities inside the ecozone to expand further in the near future
following the announcement of Dyson, a global technology company, to open a new P11-billion research
and development (R&D) campus inside FPIP.

Dyson invests P11B in research, manufacturing site in Batangas

The new campus in Santo Tomas, Batangas, is thought to be one of the largest investments, and most
advanced technology manufacturing centers in the country that underscores the growing importance of
the Philippines in Dyson’s global ambitions.

As part of the investment, Dyson aims to initially hire an additional 400 engineers and more than 50
graduate engineers who will join the team later this year.

Dyson’s R&D teams in the Philippines will be focused on software, AI, robotics, fluid dynamics and hardware electronics.

Lopez-controlled First Philippine Holdings Corp, together with partner Sumitomo Corporation of
Japan, established FPIP as a world-class location for global manufacturers and traders, as well as a
platform for creating jobs for ordinary Filipinos and tax revenues for the government.

The 520-hectare ecozone, straddling Santo Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas, now provides employment
for almost 70,000 Filipinos, aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in tax revenues for the
host LGUs.

FPIP’s establishment fulfills the role that FPIP’s late chairman Emeritus Oscar M. Lopez enshrined in the company’s original mission statement, which is “to advance national development through industry
catalyzation and job creation.” The chairman emeritus passed on late last month at the age of 93.