A few days ago, I heard from a former coworker that "our" department is going to close by end of Q2! This is surprising considering that it has only been a year ago since it was spun-off from Intel. And now it is going to close too.
How sad that they are going to get rid of the R&D department. It is only one of a few existing hardware design centers in the Philippines. It is such a disappointment that there are very few opportunities here for hardware design and development. Lots of talent but no place to apply them.
Nowadays, a lot of electronics engineers are going into IT or software development as this is where a lot of opportunities abound. Either that or they work in the assembly / test sector that pay too low.
I don't want to sound depressing but that is exactly what is happening. That is one of the reasons why a lot of Professionals opt to work out of the country. But those who prefer to stay have their options running out.
On a positive note, it is still good that the Philippines still has a lot of job opportunities in the IT sector. Hopefully more opportunities come in now that a lot of companies transfer their workforce to Asia due to cheaper labor.
