The UK is a growing market for finance professionals and healthcare workers from the Philippines, according to a report by the Philippines Department of Labor and Employment.

“Based on the job orders that we have been receiving, there are emerging opportunities for our overseas Filipino workers here in the financial sector,” said Amuerfina Reyes, London labor attaché with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office. “We can see an increase in the demand for accountants and auditors.”

Reyes also noted a rise in job orders for senior healthcare workers because of the spread of Covid; there are already about 13,000 healthcare workers from the Philippines in the UK, a large portion of whom are nurses.

The UK will need some 50,000 nurses by the year 2024.

“Upon their arrival here in the UK, nurses are getting GDP 19,000 to GDP 20,000 per year,” Reyes said. “If they pass the exam, just like the one [the Professional Regulation Commission] administers in the Philippines, they will receive GDP 23,000 to GDP 24,000 per year. They are getting more from overtime pay, on top of their opportunity of becoming permanent residents after five years, if their track records are clean.”