Sri Lankan migrant workers replace Indians in the Gulf

The boom in the Indian economy has done wonders for its Sri Lankan counterparts. With many Indian migrant workers returning to their homeland to enjoy its current rising star, job opportunities are opening up for Sri Lankans, especially in the Middle East.
According to Anwar Ulumudeen, former President of the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agents (ALFEA), Indians in the Middle East are showing a definite trend of heading home, giving Lankans better access to the overseas market. However, he adds that more than the unskilled; the highest demand is for skilled workers. “In Sri Lanka we don’t have enough skilled workers in all the categories since many of them have already left the country,” he says. According to him, if a trained workforce is made, the returns to Sri Lanka would double. He says that the Ministry of Vocational Training has already started a course to train workers but that it is only to meet with local demand and is not a “full fledged” campaign.

A senior official of one of the pioneering recruiters in the industry also said that the number of job orders they received from the Gulf has increased since recently, particularly from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which he says is due to the recent outflow of Indians from the region. He said that it is now a case of not being able to cater to the demand.

“We get a lot of orders and we advertise, but we don’t get that many applications,” he says, adding that although finding IT-trained workers has not been a problem, getting workers in the construction, hospitality, accountancy and engineering field has been a task.

Balanced workforce
According to him, another factor has come in to play to the advantage of Sri Lankans. Employers in the Middle East have begun to limit the number of Indians they absorb, in the interest of having a balanced workforce. According to him, with the exception of large-scale jobs in oil-rigs and nuclear energy plants where their expertise is essential, Indian numbers are being severely minimized. The positions are being given to the workers from other parts of the region like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational and Technical Education however denied the claims of inadequate training of the local workforce. Abeysinghe Arachchi, private secretary to Minister Piyasiri Gamage, said they carry out the training programmes for all types of skills ranging from masonry and welding to gem-cutting, and that they cater for both local and foreign employment.

“We have about 40,000 people enrolled in training right now and we can supply if the government orders us to,” he says, adding that although the foreign agents had discussed supplying trained labour with them throughout last year, they had not come to any conclusive decision.

The main body for foreign employment, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has no particular knowledge of the Indians leaving the Gulf.

However L.K. Ruhunuge, Deputy General Manager, Foreign Relations and Conciliation, says that there was an 8% growth in the overall foreign employment numbers last year when compared to previous years. He also confirmed the increase in demand from the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. (TR).