Information asymmetry striking the foreign labour market

Despite having an overwhelming amount of work to perform, the majority of migrant employees who returned claimed they were happy with their working circumstances as recent studies show. The overwhelming majority of respondents who lived in housing made available by their companies expressed satisfaction with the housing. While male employees had to share rooms, the majority of female respondents who were domestic workers got their own rooms and other amenities. 

Since the liberalisation of the economy it has relied on the savings of its migrant workers. Currently, Sri Lanka employs 1.5 – 2 million people overseas of which annually 200,000 to 300,000 people travel overseas on work visas, mostly to cities in West Asia and certain Asian countries. A notable example is Israel, which offered 2,000 positions to Sri Lankans to work as carers, while the US offered several opportunities to healthcare staff.

The lack of knowledge and limitations on employment accessible overseas are two issues that potential migrant employees must deal with. As anecdotal evidence suggests, the public should be informed of this information as soon as feasible. The website of the Foreign Employment Bureau, which provides the most updated information to all potential candidates seeking foreign tenure, might be quite useful in these circumstances. The Government too is responding to this need. It was announced to plan a change from the cumbersome administrative procedures for foreign employees with a single digital platform, aiding the candidates as well as foreign administrations in preventing fraud and corruption.

According to one minister, the purpose of this digital platform is to simplify international employment from the point of recruiting until the end of their service. The limitations and challenges experienced by female migrant workers were acknowledged to have been brought to the attention of the Government by a number of civil society organisations working on migrant worker rights. Their key goal was to create a new framework for foreign hiring that fully digitised the industry in order to keep tight tabs on the full process as well as for government officials to solicit their aid whenever they required it.

Recently, there have been several reports of persons entering West Asian nations on visit visas without employment agreements and becoming trapped there. The media is unfortunately quick to capture sensation without balance.

However, this lack of information deterred applicants for the wrong reason. It has also been claimed that shady employment agencies traffic people, causing complications for job searchers abroad. Because it was simpler to enter these nations, where a visit visa can be obtained on arrival, and because you don’t need a job contract to reach these cities, many people left their home countries last year, especially to seek employment in Dubai and Singapore. The idea to provide accommodation for foreign employees is another advantage.

The Foreign Employment Bureau and the National Housing Development Authority will work together to develop a housing project designed specifically for migrant workers. According to the requirements of the Sri Lankan migrant workers, urban condos and rural single-dwelling units will be built under this project. Additionally, they will receive benefits so they may construct a home on their own plot of land.