Officials at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) expressed joy at the increased number in the face of growing apprehension about the global financial crisis shrinking the foreign employment market. However, data shows that the growth is lower than in the past, when it used be in double digits.
According to data compiled by DoFE, a total of 18,715 workers left for different overseas job destinations between mid-January and mid-February this year, up from 17,300 recorded the previous month.
It further shows that the number of Nepalis finding work through individual initiative jumped to 28 percent of the total outbound workforce during the month, up from only around 15 percent in past months.
“Thanks to the personal initiative of the jobseekers themselves the figure has appeared encouraging,” said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of DoFE. Demand through manpower agencies alone has slid, he told myrepublica.com.
To ensure rights and security at such personally arranged jobs, the government has, meanwhile, made certification of the recruitment documents by the Nepali mission in the employer country mandatory.
The DoFE data further reveals that Malaysia - the second most preferred country for the last one year – has suffered a significant setback in terms of worker arrivals. Officials attribut this decline to the decision of the Malaysian government not to take in any foreign migrant workers in the service and manufacturing sectors from January, 2009.
The number of workers leaving for Malaysia dropped to 1,553 during the month, compared to 2,873 registered a month earlier.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is going through a slowdown in construction work and other economic activity since the last few months, witnessed a nominal rise in the recruitment of Nepali workers.
The UAE received 2,550 Nepalis workers between mid-January and mid-February, a meager two individuals more than the 2,548 the previous month.
Plagued by the global recession, this Gulf nation has announced that 57 large companies, mainly in the construction and manufacturing sectors, are to suspend operations by April 2009. According to the Nepali mission there, over 125,000 Nepalis are employed in the UAE.
Job placements through individual initiative, meanwhile, have pushed up the number of workers leaving for Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the two key job destinations in the Gulf.
According to DoFE, 6,413 Nepalis left for Qatar and an additional 5,140 moved to Saudi Arabia during the month. Qatar and Saudi Arabia presently employ some 286,000 and 500,000 Nepalis respectively.
Cumulative overseas employment data shows that the number of workers leaving for different destinations during the first seven months of 2008/09 increased by 4.5 percent to 138,867, as compared to 132,812 recorded during the same period last year.
During the seven-month period, Qatar and Malaysia absorbed 46,202 and 28,722 Nepalis. The numbers are marginally down from 47,509 and 29,747 respectively recorded during the same period last year.
The number of Nepali workers leaving for the UAE dropped by 5,190 during the period to total 19,843. However, workers going to Saudi Arabia increased to 28,683 from 24,054 in the first seven months of last fiscal year.
Likewise, Baharain, the forth country to sign a labor pact with Nepal, absorbed 4,165 Nepali workers during the period, up from 2,005 in the same period last year.
Related story
Over 600,000 people receive work permit for overseas employment...
