The latest issue of Forbes Asia features Asians returning home from overseas migration to help build their country’s economy. On the cover is Harsh Manglik, an Indian who left India 35 years ago for a career in the US. He thought he might never go back but returned to India to ride the outsourcing wave.

Another story is that of Vietnamese, Phuc Than. He left Vietnam 24 years ago as a refugee and is back as country manager of Intel.

There are numerous stories of Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans and other Asians who studied, worked abroad and retured to help to their country.

One day, I long to see Filipinos coming back and use their money, talents and resources in building our country.

The headline may seem untrue because of our high unemployment rate but Metro Manila is indeed suffering from lack of qualified workers.

In a survey conducted by DOLE-Bureau of Labor Employment and Statistics (BLES), 30.3% of companies operating in Metro Manila have difficulty in filling up vacancies.

Skills shortage includes the following professions: accountants, computer programmers, electrical and mechanical engineers, financial analysts, lawyers, information technology technicians, nurses and sales representatives.

Because of the skills shortage, it takes up to four weeks to fill up a job vacancy these days.

If you believe that your establishment promotes and fosters the highest level of business ethics, then you should apply for the DTI Certified Establishment Program.

The DTI Certified Establishment Program is awarded to establishments who (1) comply with Fair Trade Laws; (2) provide best of breed customer relations; (3) have established store management/operations; (4) are socially committed and responsible business sector; and (5) ISO 9000/14000 compliant. 

Those that can apply for certification are retail establishments, supermarkets, department stores, appliance centers, hardware stores, and DTI-accredited service and repair shops.

It used to be called Tele Sulit. Then Tele Tipid. Now its called Tele Pwede.

PLDT has been experimenting with their pre-paid landline service that they have to change terms and conditions several times. It used to be Php 500 good for 2 months, unlimited incoming calls and outgoing at 75 cents a minute.

The new Tele Pwede, while more feature rich cost Php 115 just to have incoming services. Add to that, the pre-paid loads disappear without notice! With the new PLDT scheme, your monthly spending would probably be Php 300.