Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan who are waiting for the renewal of their work contracts may be forced to look for another job opportunity elsewhere as the Taiwan government ordered the hiring ban on Filipino workers.

According to Emmanuel Geslani, a recruitment consultant, because of the ban almost 10,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan were forced to go home to the Philippines since May of this year. The source of the figures is said to be the Manila Economic Cooperation Office (Meco).

The ban and non-renewal of contracts of Filipinos in Taiwan is the result of the shooting incident that involved members of the Philippine Coast Guard and caused the death of a Taiwanese fisherman.

Geslani said, “The hiring freeze prevented their employers from extending their contracts and all these OFWs, whose contracts expired these past months of May, June and now July, have to return to the country.”

There are more or less 85,000 OFWs in Taiwan and if all of them would be sent back home, the recruitment consultant warned that the Philippines may lose up to USD2 billion dollars in remittances in the next three years.