Page 37 - Labour Market Information Bulletin - 2020 Volume 01

SECTION - 2.2 | EMPLOYMENT (FOREIGN)

2.2.1: Trends in Foreign Employment Opportunities
This section allocates space to discuss the trend in foreign employment opportunities. During first six months
of the year 2020, 40,581 of workers had gone for foreign employment through all sources. The highest number
of departures for foreign employment was recorded for Qatar (19.2%). Percentage of the departures for foreign
employment for, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and U.A.E. were recorded 19, 18.3 and 16.1 respectively of the total
departures for foreign employment. According to the graph 2.2.1.2, in all manpower levels, percentage of male
departures was higher than that of female departures except in the housemaid category in 1st half of 2020. Skilled
category recorded the highest number of departures for foreign employment.

Table 2.2.1.1: Departures for Foreign Graph 2.2.1.1: Percentage of Departures
Employment in 1st half of 2020 (Through All for Foreign Employment in 1st half of 2020
Sources) (For selected countries)
Country Total Percentage
Qatar 7,802 19.2
Saudi Arabia 7,699 19.0
Kuwait 7,433 18.3
U A E 6,527 16.1
Oman 2,133 5.3
Maldives 1,285 3.2
South Korea 1,114 2.7
Jordan 902 2.2
Romania 771 1.9
Bahrain 716 1.8
Japan 594 1.5
Cyprus 571 1.4
Malaysia 511 1.3
Singapore 487 1.2
Israel 472 1.2
Other 1,564 3.9
All Countries 40,581 100.0

* Provisional
Through All Sources
Table 2.2.1.2: Gender Distribution of Departures for Foreign Employment by Manpower Level
in 1st half of 2020
Gender Professional Middle Level Skilled Unskilled Housemaid Total
Male 1,937 903 11,167 8,634 - 22,641
Female 195 128 1,284 2,190 11,717 15,514
Total 2,132 1,031 12,451 10,824 11,717 38,155

*Provisional
Source: Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Emplyment
Note: Excluding Clerical Related and Semi Skilled Occupations
Graph 2.2.1.2: Percentage of Departures for Foreign Employment by Manpower Level and
Gender in 1st half of 2020