Half of Filipinos go malling at least twice a month: Study

Dubai - 48 per cent of the Filipino expats frequent the malls to shop.

A typical Filipino expat in the UAE goes to the mall at least twice a month to shop, according to a recent study conducted by a private marketing and consultancy firm.
The study conducted by Eon Group, said 48 per cent of the Filipino expats frequent the malls to shop and 45 per cent are willing to spend up to Dh50 for one meal while 16 per cent are willing to spend more than Dh80 for good food.
Filipino expats, arguably the third largest expat community in the UAE after Indians and Pakistanis, have dramatically improved their lot in the past few years, in terms of skills, employability and purchasing power, the report said.
The report titled 'EON Insight: Focus on the Filipino in the UAE' was aimed at breaking the perceptions and stereotypes of Filipinos, proving that its migrant workforce is no longer dominated by traditional and low-skilled workers, including domestic helpers and labourers.
"Filipinos are now represented across all industries contributing to the country's economy and that 64 per cent of Filipino respondents are college graduates while 6.7 per cent hold post graduate degrees," Eon said.
The study also showed that 62 per cent of the Filipinos surveyed can be found in sectors that are seen to contribute to the UAE's economic diversification and expansion.
According to Eon, "the top five sectors Filipinos work in are architecture, engineering and construction (17%), tourism and hospitality (16%), customer service (13%), health and medical fields (10%) and marketing and advertising (8%)".
Moreover, an increasing number of Filipino professionals are in associate, supervisory and mid-senior level manager roles, according to the survey that was conducted between May and June this year across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
In terms of income, 37 per cent of Filipinos surveyed earn at least Dh8,000 a month, while 20 per cent take home Dh13,000 monthly.
Filipinos are also big spenders, with 48 per cent of them going to the mall to shop at least once or twice a month and Junie Del Mundo, founder and CEO of EON Group, explained that the survey, which had 200 online respondents and 400 face-to-face interviews plus focused-discussion group, has shown "the impact and contribution of the Filipino community to the UAE".
"Filipinos are very engaged, increasingly wealthy, proud of their new home and looking for ways they can help support the diverse, tolerant and multicultural country that is the UAE. There is an increasing opportunity for companies to directly engage with this community," Del Mundo underlined.
Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said: "We are very proud of our relationship with the UAE. Our ties with this country are one of our most strategic relationships, be it trade, cultural, or human relationships."
angel@khaleejtimes.com

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