How international contractors hire construction workers in Manila

The process

From manpower schedule to tested crew. A contractor sends, for example: 12 shuttering carpenters, 8 steel fixers, 6 masons, 4 scaffolders, 2 foremen, start in week 14. We:

• map each line to the destination's occupation code and check it against the country's rules — sponsorable, DAMA-only, or not at all;
• write a trade specification and a practical test per line (formwork panel from a drawing; rebar cage from a bar-bending schedule; blockwork to line and level; scaffold erection and inspection);
• source nationwide through Prime Search's own candidate base;
• run the tests in Makati while your site manager watches live and interviews the same day;
• assemble the crew against your manning schedule, with its own foremen;
• run the DMW deployment chain and the destination permit in parallel, and mobilise in waves against the programme.

The rule that decides everything

Which trades can come depends on the country, not on demand, and we say so before quoting. Gulf: employer sponsorship — skilled trades at MoHRE level 4–5, foremen 3–4, helpers where the quota allows. Australia: trades on the Core Skills Occupation List with a TRA skills assessment for Philippine passports; concreters, plant operators and labourers only where a regional DAMA lists them. Germany: the experience route for diploma holders at Bau-Tarif, apprentices under § 16a — no visa for unskilled labour. Austria: roofers, carpenters, concrete workers, construction fitters and (regionally) bricklayers and tilers on the 2026 shortage lists. Belgium: the regional medium-skilled lists (Flanders 2026: 21 occupations, low-skilled excluded). Netherlands: skilled routes only.

Where Filipino construction crews come from

Gulf towers, stadiums, metros and villas since the 1970s; Philippine construction majors; Asian high-rise. TESDA Carpentry, Masonry, Tile Setting, Reinforcing Steel Works, Scaffolding and Construction Painting NC II are the domestic pathways; the international project record is what makes the crews useful in week one — with their own foremen, in the English a mixed-nationality site runs on.

The Philippine side

Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office for the destination, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; the employer is always your company, directly.

Everything here is subject to the permit, qualification and licensing requirements of the destination country.

Frequently asked questions

• How fast can we see a crew?

  Two to four weeks to a tested shortlist; mobilisation depends on the country — weeks in the Gulf, months where recognition or skills assessment applies.

• Can you fill a whole manning schedule?

  The lines the country allows, yes; we tell you at feasibility which lines cannot be filled from the Philippines in that country and do not recruit for them.

• Who employs the workers?

  Your company; we recruit, test, document and coordinate.