Visualizing the global deployment of Filipina workers

Abstract

Filipina migrant workers have played an important role in various economies and societal sectors across the globe, including providing vital support to healthcare systems during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This graphics article visualizes their overseas global deployment, mapping their migration into countries that have at least 100 Filipina workers in 2019. The map illustrates sizable deployment of Filipinas to the Middle East and East and Southeast Asia, from 2015 to 2019. While labor migration to East and Southeast Asia has been traditionally female-dominated, the Middle East experienced a gendered shift, from a more male-dominated stock working in the oil industry to a more female workforce supporting the thriving service and commercial industries. Meanwhile, European countries have emerged as major destinations for Filipina workers, experiencing high rates of growth of Filipina deployment. These patterns can potentially inspire future research in understanding gendered shifts in labor migration and help guide policy on labor migration and support systems for Filipinas and their families left behind in the Philippines.