HS undergrad takes chances in Middle East, now helps fellow domestic helpers in UAE get jobs

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – They were so poor she had to drop out of high school and leave for the Middle East to be a domestic helper at a very young age, with no English communication skills and without having the vaguest idea how it was to be a housemaid in a foreign land.

These days, 43-year-old Janylyn Sayon-Garcia of Tuao in Cagayan Valley, runs three businesses in Dubai – a salon, a billiards hall operated by her husband, and a human resources consultancy outfit for the unemployed, mostly former domestic helpers and job-hunting newcomers on visit visas.

“Isa akong katulong na nangarap.  Isa akong mahirap na nag-pursige. Gusto kong mabago ang tingin ng mga tao sa mga housemaids na mababa lang daw.  Kaya meron akong program na pinag-aaral ko ang mga kapwa kong kasambahay para mabago ang buhay nila,” Garcia said.

(I was a domestic helper who had dreams. I was a poor person who kept going. I wanted to change most people’s perception of housemaids whom they take as lowly. That’s why I also have a program where I send domestic helpers to training schools to upgrade their skills and change their lives.)

Formed in 2021, the manpower agency has so far provided jobs for 3,000 overseas Filipinos through the years, Garcia said.  The roles mostly were for house helpers, nannies, cooks, tutors, caregivers and lady drivers. Her employment company receives up to 20 jobseekers a day — from visit visa holders to those whose employment visas have been cancelled following expiration of their job contracts, compelling them to look for new jobs. The visit visas of most jobseekers only have a 30-day validity period, officials said.

A typical day would be one of interviews with applicants and Whatsapp conversations about inquiries from both jobseekers and prospective employers handled by Garcia and her staff.

Garcia said jobseekers learn about her manpower agency through social media. It has TikTok and Facebook accounts. There have also been walk-ins advised by their friends, she said.

The success rate is 100%, Garcia said. “May amo agad. Kami po ang naghahanap ng magiging amo nila,” she said. (They immediately get jobs. We do the job hunting for them.)

Best of all, jobseekers don’t have to pay; Garcia’s services are free. Her way, she said, of giving back. Garcia has a network of locals, which include those she had worked for when she was still a housemaid, recommending jobseekers to prospective employers. She said she also has the support of Dubai Police.

Helping OFWs

For her advocacy, Garcia said her manpower agency maintains a temporary shelter for the job seekers. They also provide free food and internet connection, among others.

“Naranasan kasi naming mag-asawa yung hirap ng tumira sa flat at mag-shared bedspace. Ngayon, gusto ko na yung mga bagong dating na pumupunta sa akin ay may higaan sila. Masarap sa pakiramdam na hindi na sila maghahanap pa ng bahay, gagastos pa habang naghahanap ng trabaho,” said Garcia, referring to visit visa holders.

(My husband and I have experienced how hard it was to live in crowded apartment units, sleeping together in one bedspace. Now, I want the newcomers to have a nice bed to sleep on. It feels good knowing that they don’t anymore have to worry about a place to stay and pay for it while looking for a job.)

Visit visas cover one to three months, during which the bearer, wanting to stay and work in the UAE, is under pressure to get a job before it expires. Otherwise, the visa will have to be renewed, requiring the jobseeker to exit the country so that a new one can be issued if no employment was secured prior to its expiration. 

This adds to the cost of looking for a job, an extra burden, considering most overseas Filipinos arriving in the UAE on visit visas usually have limited budget; others have been fortunate to enjoy support from a relative working in the country.

Garcia also lamented that some jobseekers, especially newcomers to the city who came from the provinces back home, were being scammed by fellow Filipinos posing as employment agents. 

“Pero kami, transparent kami. Ako mismo ang kumakausap sa sponsor (employer) at merong agreement with our office. Kinaka-usap din muna namin yung applicant, tapos kung gusto niya, then go,” Garcia said.

(But we are transparent. I, myself, am the one talking to the prospective employer. And we have an agreement with our office. We’d also talk to the applicant and if she is okay with it, then we proceed.)

She added that her manpower agency also implements a four-day trial period to know whether the applicant can handle the job.  On top of this is a two-year probationary period for the employer, during which the housemaid can be picked up by Garcia’s staff anytime, in cases of abuse or overwork. Garcia said her company has three drivers on stand-by for this.

Training to level up

Garcia’s manpower agency also provides skills upgrades for household workers “para matulungan yung mga kagaya ko (to help those who are like how I was.)”

To this end, Garcia said she has a partnership with a licensed skills institute to train domestic helpers while working. In fact, most of the beauticians at her salon were former domestic helpers her agency had provided work for, she said.

Garcia said her group of companies employs a total of 53 people, mostly Filipinos. With no fees required from job applicants, financial upkeep of the three businesses is supplemented by online selling, she said.

“Ewan ko pero sustained naman namin ang operation. Napapasahod naman namin sila,” she said.  (I don’t know how we manage, but we are able to sustain our operations. The staff is getting paid.)

The beauty salon has 15 staff; the billiards hall has 10; and the human resource company has 15. Garcia also has four kitchen staff and another four maintaining the company accommodation in Al Qusais, a residential area in the outskirts of Dubai. 

Humble beginnings

Garcia, eldest of five siblings, said her family used to stay at their uncle’s place back in the day. 

“Mahirap lang kami as in walang bahay, walang lupa. Tatay ko nakikisaka lang at maagang nagkasakit,” Garcia said. (We were so poor, we didn’t have a house of our own, no farm. My father was a farmer working on a daily arrangement. He got sick at an early age.)

She first worked as a domestic helper in Kuwait during the early 2000s, where she experienced being doused with steaming tea by her employer because of some mistakes. She said she still has scars on her belly from that incident.

“Kailangan lang magtiis, ‘wag magreklamo,” Garcia said. (I needed to bear hardships and not complain.)

Garcia moved to Saudi Arabia after spending three years in Kuwait. She went to Dubai in 2008. Over time working abroad, Garcia managed to have a house for her parents and siblings and farmland, too.

Garcia, a mother of four, managed to grow it in just three years. Garcia’s husband used to be a construction worker in Dubai. Her 24-year-old eldest, graduated magna cum laude in Manila and is now an office manager also in Dubai.

She said she keeps an open mind for suggestions while at the same time living a less extravagant life. This, plus compassion toward her and a lot of courage, is her secret to success.

“Kahit businesswoman na ako, ukay-ukay pa rin ang mga damit ko. Ako yung tao na hindi magastos at malakas ang loob. Higit sa lahat, hindi ako napapagod sa mga tao na need ako. Basta makakatulong ako, go lang,” Garcia, who has learned to speak Arabic, said.

(I still wear secondhand clothes even though I am already a businesswoman. I am the type of person who is frugal and tenacious. Above all, I don’t get tired helping people who need me. As long as I can be of help, it’s a ‘go.’) – Rappler.com