The first batch of 28 Filipino nurses entered Austria’s health care system for the first time since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in July between Vienna and Manila.
Ma. Lourdes Capua, president and general manager of LRC Manpower Services, International, Inc., said the nurses will work in auxiliary roles while studying German language courses.
Their pay will increase to 2600 euros or P156,000 after six to seven months upon obtaining a language certification and passing the Austrian Nursing Board Exams.
Full board and accommodation will be provided by the hospital, with the contract good for two years that includes fifteen days of annual leave credits.
All expenses for the deployment of the Filipino nurses were covered by the employer, except for passports and medical exams, Capua said.
According to Jerome Barbate, executive director of the Filipino Nursing Diaspora Network, there are at least 35,000 Filipino nurses in Europe, with nearly 80 percent in the United Kingdom and close to 20 percent in Germany.
Burgenland State Governor Hans Doskozil, who welcomed the Filipino nurses, said his state will need more than 1,700 health workers by 2030.
A second batch of 20 more nurses is expected to depart for Burgenland in the next few weeks.
