Financial Times

Foreigners taking away "our" jobs -young business leader
By Iromi Perera
Foreigners working in Sri Lanka and in different sectors of the economy is an important issue that the business community is confronted with. "In the good old days it used to be just CEO's, finance directors; basically senior level people who come and work here. But now we see that the problem is spreading right across all segments of employment, down to the mason, carpenters, hospital workers," says Kishu Gomes, Managing Director/CEO of Caltex Lubricants Lanka Ltd.

"We as Sri Lankans should take the blame for it, for not moulding our people to do the right thing (job)," he added. Gomes, who has been raising this particular issue at many forums, recently clinched the 'Business Leader of the Year,' award at the CIMA Janashakthi Pinnacle Awards.

In an interview with The Sunday Times FT, he said that this problem is worsening and that it has become a huge economic issue. He said that one has to take an audit of the foreign nationals working here in order to manage the situation. "We always talk about our people, our labour force going abroad and bringing in foreign revenue but nobody has statistics to find out how much money is being drained out in the same way with people coming and working here, especially the senior positions, which are extremely expensive when they're expatriates," Gomes said adding that he believes that it is a serious problem that needs to be corrected.

The Caltex CEO said that Sri Lank has the right talent and the right calibre of people to undertake any position. "We've seen companies that are growing under local leadership and therefore the point has been proved that Sri Lankans can do very well." When Gomes joined Caltex, there were three expatriates working there. Now with Gomes heading the company, there are no expatriates and over the last three years the company has grown in profitability. Gomes said that they are a better company now, then what they were. Hence, companies should give opportunities to Sri Lankans.

Multinational companies have a tendency to hire expatriates to head those organizations and share the best practices, to have the right to control, have the right aspect in place to deal with governments and to basically create an environment which is conducive for multinational business. While Gomes says that this is good, he points out that it would be better if the multinationals develop local talent in those companies to take over such positions. He added that it would be beneficial to the multinationals as local talent can be brought in at a much cheaper rate and it would help the youth and the country at large.

Referring to students who go abroad to study, Gomes says that the latest trend is that a majority of these students want to return to Sri Lanka and work but they do not find the right opportunities. He said that most organisations worry that those who have studied in foreign countries do not have the exposure to the Sri Lankan markets and that they would be unsuccessful in fitting in with the local culture and understanding the needs of the local consumer, as that is what is important for one to drive an organisation in the right direction.

The importance of youth in today's corporate world is yet another issue that Gomes believes more emphasis should be given to. When competition gets tougher, resources are limited. To keep up with competition, organizations must come up with new ideas and out of the box thinking to challenge the world.

"That is where the youth comes in," said Gomes. By youth, it is not just school leavers, it includes people who have the right experience but are also young and ready to challenge the world. "Most of the older folks in this country haven't had the opportunity to update knowledge on latest technology and latest trends. The world has moved on and you can't be lagging behind just because you don't have the right people leading the organization," he added. He said that if Sri Lankans are to be successful, then “we need people who can compete at a global level and therefore, we need people who have been exposed to new ways of doing things and who can take the challenge.” He further added that if one looks at the stories of some successful companies, there has always been out of the box thinking and this has always come from the youth.

His company is currently concentrating on exports while future plans include looking for opportunities outside the lubricant business.

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