The number of Nepalis seeking foreign employment has dropped by 59%

KATHMANDU: JULY 16 – The number of Nepalis seeking final labor permits to go for foreign employment has decreased by 59.9 percent. According to the Department of Foreign Employment, the number of Nepalis seeking and renewing new labor permits, both individually and institutionally, for foreign employment has declined sharply from July to May of the last fiscal year. Such a number had declined by 12.4 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the 11 months of 2077/78, 77,799 people got final labor approval to go for foreign employment. However, in the first 11 months of the previous Fiscal Year 2076/77, the number of such approvals was 193,880. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of such approvals was 221,431.

During the same period, the number of Nepalis seeking final labor permits to go to South Korea, the highest of the 20 major destinations for employment, declined. In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the number of people seeking work permits in the country had decreased by 47 percent.

In particular, the number has come down due to the existence of the Employment Permit System (EPS) between the government agencies of South Korea and the concerned bodies of the Government of Nepal. Due to COVID-19, even those who have passed the EPS language test for employment in South Korea have not been able to get a work permit.

Similarly, the number of Nepalis seeking employment permits for employment in Malaysia, which is considered a major destination for Nepalis and is estimated to be more than 700,000, has decreased by 92.7 percent. Kuwait has 88.7 percent employment permits, Malta 89.9 percent, Israel 71.4 percent, UAE 67.3 percent, Lebanon 60 percent, Jordan 50 percent, Japan 41 percent, Saudi Arabia 40 percent, Qatar 37 percent, Cyprus 35 percent, and Turkey 33 percent. , Oman 17, Afghanistan 16, Maldives 15 percent. Similarly, in Bahrain 10, the number of Romanians seeking employment permits for employment has dropped by 4 percent.

However, the number of Nepalis seeking final labor permits to go to European country Poland has increased by 127 percent in the same period.

Similarly, the number of Nepalis seeking re-employment for foreign employment has also declined by 47.1 percent during the period. Such a number had decreased by 31.1 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The department has stated that the number of Nepalis going for foreign employment has also decreased due to the global epidemic of COVID-19 affecting the employer countries, companies, and individuals, reduction in production, the global recession in the industry, business, and economic activities, closure of air services.