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Lankan men overtake women in foreign jobs
For the first time in nearly three decades, the Sri Lankan males edged out females in job placements overseas mainly in the West Asian region, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) Chairman Amal Senalankadhikara said yesterday.
He said that during the past year Sri Lankan males made up 51 per cent of the total number taking up employment overseas.
“We need to reduce the number of females sent abroad and provide more opportunities for the males because it will also scale down the domestic issues that take place once the women leave for work overseas,” Mr. Senalankadhikara said.
He said several programmes had been initiated at district and village level to increase the recruitment of males for foreign jobs.
The chairman said efforts were underway to seek job for Sri Lankans not only in the Middle East and Asia but also in European countries and in Australia.
At present some 1.7 million Sri Lankans work overseas with the majority being in the Middle East. About 200,000 Sri Lankans take up foreign jobs annually.
The foreign employment industry is also the country’s single largest foreign exchange earner bringing in about US$ 5.3 billion or Rs. 654 billion annually. Mr. Senalankadhikara said the SLFEB was looking at new job opportunities in security, construction, hospitality, banking and other professional fields.
He said those chosen to fill such vacancies in foreign countries would have to undergo training programmes before leaving the country and spoken English would be on top of the agenda.
“There is also a demand for Sri Lankan nurses in countries such as Japan, the United States, Israel and Italy. However, before such recruitment could be launched the applicants will have to undergo a degree course at the Open University since a degree is an essential requirement for nurses in those countries
“Above everything it is important that we upgrade the quality of our workers irrespective of the category since the market is so competitive and we have to create a good impression,” Mr. Senalankadhikara said.
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