Have Degree,Will Travel

Globally there is a shortage of qualified Accountants, particularly those prepared to work in Offshore jurisdictions like Gibraltar. Having been asked by numerous clients,from Private Wealth Management Companies to Accountancy practices, to find accountants

Atlas Recruitment decided to look further a field.

In the Channel Islands Atlas arc very experienced in recruiting can didates from the other side of the world to fill professional skills gaps in both the legal and accounting areas so they decided to expanded the search to include highly quali fied Accountancy professionals from the Philippines

Qualified candidates from big four firms in the Philippines' capital, Manila, are very similarly trained to those from sister offices in London or elsewhere with one huge difference — they are paid a low salary even for South East Asia and they work very long hours. Hence a career opportunity in Gibraltar with a decent salary and working for a globally recognised firm is a very attractive prospect.

One such company in Gibraltar which recently attracted a number of qualified accountants from

Manila is Baker Tilly. Baker Tilley hired three experienced account ants last Autumn for their Audit teams.

Ian Collinson a partner said that having exhausted the search in Europe the prospect of sourcing candidates from recognised indus try leaders in Manila was a great solution to an ongoing problem of recruiting qualified staff from an ever decreasing pool.

Atlas Recruitment screened a vast number of applicants and as sisted with the recruitment process and setting up of video interviews at which point Faith, Eunida and international professional experi ence whilst living in and learning a new culture. Hove Gibraltar and am looking forwards to spending time in other European countries before I eventually return home," said Eunida who is heading to Milan for her birthday weekend in a few weeks time, which is some thing she never dared to dream of a year ago.

Atlas and Baker Tilly found a furnished apartment for the girls to move into on the day they ar rived. Faith said "It is a lovely apartment overlooking the Marina only a few minutes walk from the office which is very different from traveling across a busy city like Manila on a dally basis. It is also great to be home soon after I finish work to enjoy life outside of work.

1 also love the fact that 1 can walk around Gibraltar with no fear of be ing mugged or anything — Manila can be a dangerous place but here we feel free to do as we please."

The three ladies did have some adjustments to make but are now all enjoying living and working here.

Fritzie said "Everyone at Baker Tilly and their clients have been so nice and welcoming. Right from my first interview with Paddy from Atlas I knew it was something that 1 wanted to do and would enjoy. It was also comforting to know that we had someone here working with Baker Tilly ensuring that we were looked after whist settling in and to help us with everything we needed outside of work."

The Migration Culture

Fritzie were appointed and ar rived in Gibraltar on National Day last year.

Eunida a 24 year old accountant from PWC Manila was thrilled to be offered a role here and could not wait to relocate to Gibraltar for both professional and personal develop ment reasons. Her sister has been working as a Nurse in Saudi for a number of years and Eunida always saw gaining experience outside of the Philippines as something that she would do during her career.

"I will obviously return to my country at a later stage in my career but for me it was important to gain

Since the 1970s, the Philip pines — a country of about 7,000 islands peopled by di verse ethno-linguistic groups — has supplied all kinds of skilled and low-skilled workers to the world's more developed regions in response to high unemployment in the Philip pines and labour shortages in other countries. It is estimated almost 10% of the country's 85 million people are working and/or residing in close to 200 countries and territories worldwide.

The developmentofa culture of migration in the Philip pines has been greatly aided by migration's irxstitutionalization. The government facili tates migration, regulates the operations of the recruitment agencies,and looks out for the rights of its migrant workers. More importantly, the remit tances workerssend home have become a pillar of the country's economy.