Out of the thousands of unemployed Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) who attended the job fair in Pasay City, only 100 were immediately hired, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) this Saturday, February 1.
The Career Con 2025 job fair, which lasted two days, offered more than 8,000 job vacancies from at least 150 participating companies.
According to DOLE, although 18,000 workers showed interest in the job fair, only about 8,000 actually attended.
In a forum in Quezon City, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma explained that the low number of hires is due to several reasons—some workers are still waiting for POGO to reopen, others already have jobs, and many are not satisfied with salary offered.
"We continue to reach out to those affected because based of note, an estimated 40,000 IGL workers were directly affected by the closure of POGOs," said Laguesma.
According to DOLE, most of the former IGL workers worked in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Central Visayas, where their monthly wages ranged from P16,000 to P22,000.
To help the affected workers, DOLE is offering skills enhancement programs and an investment of up to P30,000 for those who want to start a small business.
