What does it take to hire Filipino workers?
Four things, in this order: your company is accredited, a job order is approved in your name, the workers are sourced and documented, and the destination issues their permits. This page answers each of them at the depth most buyers need before the first call. E-GMP International Corporation is licensed by the Department of Migrant Workers, licence DMW-232-LB-12212023-R.
Can we hire Filipino workers directly?
Generally not. Philippine rules restrict direct hiring, with narrow exemptions under current Department of Migrant Workers rules, so a foreign employer normally hires Filipino workers through a DMW-licensed agency. The licence is the mechanism the Philippine state uses to make the hire legal on its side.
The agency is not a layer between you and a labour market you could otherwise reach; it is the party the Department authorises to recruit against your order, and the party that carries the obligations afterwards. Outside those exemptions there is no approved job order without it, and without an approved job order the workers cannot lawfully be deployed to you.
What is genuinely your choice is which licensed agency, and whether you hold the contract yourself or work through a manpower or recruitment company in your own market that holds it for you. Both routes run on the same terms, and you are not locked to one agency: a principal may hold accreditation with more than one licensed Philippine agency at a time.
Accreditation: the step buyers do not know about
Your company is accredited with the Department before any job order can be approved in your name. The accreditation is yours, not the agency’s.
This is the single most common reason a first hire runs longer than the employer expected.
The recruiting is not the slow part; being unknown to the Department is. The accreditation documents are verified at the Migrant Workers Office, which issues the accreditation certificate, and where there is no Migrant Workers Office at the jobsite they are authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction over it, or acknowledged where they are apostilled.
If your company has hired from the Philippines before, the useful first move is to check whether that accreditation is still live rather than assume it. We do that check in the register and tell you what we find, including when the answer is that it lapsed.
You can confirm any of this yourself. Verify our licence sets out both public registers and how to read them.
The job order, and why it has to be approved
A job order records the roles, the number of workers and the terms of employment. The Department registers it, authorises the agency to recruit against it, and publishes it under your own company name.
Published under your own name
Because approved orders are published, the job order is also the strongest verification either side has. Yours will appear in the Department’s register under your own name, with the roles and the headcount on it.
Verified at the Migrant Workers Office
The job order and the employment contract are verified at the Migrant Workers Office, which sets the compensation package against prevailing employment standards and wage rates at the destination. That is worth knowing before you draft an offer: a role priced below the rate for it, or written into a contract that does not match the role, is caught here rather than at the airport, and the fix costs weeks.
Who provides which documents
The set is split three ways, and most of it can be assembled during the first conversation rather than before it.
What your company provides
The manpower request or job order, your commercial registration and company documents for accreditation, the employment contract on the approved terms, the recruitment agreement and the special power of attorney appointing the agency, and the visa authority or work permit from your own government’s side.
What E-GMP provides
The licence and agency documentation the Department requires, the job order filing, each worker’s processed file, and the verification and exit documentation on the Philippine side.
What the worker provides
Passport, employment history and any certificates the role calls for, medical examination results, and the clearances the destination requires.
If something on that list is missing, say so in the enquiry rather than waiting until it is complete. Knowing which piece is absent changes the sequence, and occasionally it changes the timeline by more than the recruiting does.
How long it takes, and what moves the date
Typically 30–90 days from job order to deployment; skilled and white-collar roles can take longer, and nurses up to 120 days. Where a case falls depends on which approvals the employer already holds.
Already accredited, adding to an approved job order.
The timeline is set by sourcing and the visa. That is the shortest path.
Hiring from the Philippines for the first time.
Accreditation and job order approval come first, and both sit with a government office.
Destination-side permits.
Each country runs its own process: Saudi Arabia authenticates employment contracts through Qiwa, Kuwait issues work permits through the Public Authority for Manpower, Qatar through the Ministry of Labour, and European destinations run their own quota and permit routes.
Four of the five steps that set the date sit with a government office, which is why no agency can honestly promise you a date at the first email. What we can do is give a range for your case and name the step that sets it.
What it costs
Cost depends on the roles, the headcount and the destination, and one component is not the agency’s to set.
The Migrant Workers Office determines the compensation package on the job order against prevailing employment standards and wage rates at the destination country.
This figure is set when the job order is verified, and it is not negotiated with us. It is the part of the cost that most often surprises employers, because it is not a quote anyone can lower.
Send the requirement and we will set out the costs for your case in writing, including which parts are ours and which are not.
Where to go next
The answers above are the general shape. What changes with the trade, the market and who holds the contract is set out on the pages below.
How to hire Filipino workers
the permits, accreditation, the four stages, timeline and cost
E-GMP for employers
the full deployment process, step by step
Recruitment partners
if you hold the contract with your own client
Industries
the roles, by trade family, and who they have been recruited for
Markets
the destinations, and what each one’s own side requires
Verify our licence
both public registers, and how to read them
Questions employers ask first
Can we hire Filipino workers directly, without an agency?
Generally not. Philippine rules restrict direct hiring, with narrow exemptions under current Department of Migrant Workers rules, so most foreign employers hire through a DMW-licensed agency. What is your choice is which licensed agency, and whether you hold the contract yourself or work through a manpower company in your own market that holds it for you.
Do I have to be accredited before I can hire?
Yes. Your company is accredited with the Department before a job order can be approved in your name, and the accreditation is yours rather than the agency's. If you have hired from the Philippines before, check whether that accreditation is still live rather than assuming it.
Are we locked to one agency once we are accredited?
No. A principal may hold accreditation with more than one licensed Philippine agency at a time. If you are told otherwise, check it against the Department rather than against the agency telling you.
What is a job order and why does it have to be approved?
A job order records the roles, the headcount and the terms of employment. It is approved by the Department and published in its register under your own company name, so both the employer and the worker can check that the job exists.
How long does deployment take?
Typically 30–90 days from job order to deployment, and longer for some skilled and white-collar roles, with nurses up to 120 days. It depends on which approvals your company already holds, the roles and the destination-side permit. We give a range for your case and name the step that is the constraint.
What does it cost to hire through E-GMP?
Cost depends on the roles, the headcount and the destination. One part of it is not ours to set: the Migrant Workers Office determines the compensation package on the job order against prevailing wage rates at the destination. Send the requirement and we will set out the costs for your case in writing.
Will you take a small order?
Yes. A large share of the employers on E-GMP's record ordered in single figures, and the process is the same at four workers as at forty. Send the number you actually need rather than the number you think is worth sending.
Tell us what you are trying to staff
Send the roles, the headcount and the destination. We will come back with what the order needs, which approvals you already hold, and which step is the constraint, within 24 hours.
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Prefer to message us? WhatsApp E-GMP or email inquire@egmpjobs.com.
E-GMP International Corporation, 3rd Floor, MJL Building, 1175 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.
inquire@egmpjobs.com · +63 2 8523 1893. DMW licence DMW-232-LB-12212023-R.