Nepal has over 854 registered foreign employment recruitment agencies which send Nepali workers to other countries for jobs. Since March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the world, the industry has been struggling to survive as international travel remains disrupted. 

Around 84.4 agencies have stopped their operations completely between July- September last year, finds a survey conducted by the International Labour Organization, Nepal. The situation is no better now, especially after the second wave of the Covid-19. 

About 128 agencies which were included in the survey haven’t been able to send even single labor abroad since March last year. Only 15 percent of agencies are still running their operations partially with little success to send workers. A minimum of $4200 is needed to run their operations for a month. 

Since March 2020, the Nepal government hasn’t issued any labor permits. Around 77 agencies in the country failed to send 2176 workers who were issued their labor permits. 

Another 10,575 workers whose recruitment process had been partially completed are stuck as they could not receive their labor permits, resulting in the loss of their investments. Agencies have suffered huge losses to their investments. 

“The government has shown apathy to the problems faced by agencies as they have continued to face hard times because of the pandemic for several months now,” Sujit Kumar Shrestha, the general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post. 

He also lamented that the industry which provides huge employment to workers received no relief package in the recently announced budget for the fiscal year 2021-22. Remittance from workers is a huge source of income for the government. The sector alone contributes 90 percent to the country’s forex. 

Significantly, early this year, around 25 percent of agencies reported that they received increase demand for workers from their employers abroad. However, due to travel and other restrictions, they couldn’t provide jobs. 

The second wave of the Covid-19 shattered all hopes for a recovery in the industry. Furthermore, cases have been rising in Gulf countries which is not a good sign for the industry. Most workers from Nepal get jobs in the region. 

(SAM)