The Bhutanese Leading the way.
After the Australian visa rejection cases for diploma and degree courses a few months ago, and with the freezing of education loans in the country, the majority of the youth are now opting to go to countries in the Middle-East, as their second choice to work abroad.
Renu Ghallay from Wangchuk Overseas Agency shared that there are more than 600 youths who are going to the Middle East to work in different organizations, mainly due to a huge number of Australian visa rejections.
She shared that most of the youth are class X and XII graduates, and even a few college graduates. Apart from the Australian visa rejection cases and the freezing of education loan, there are also a few youths who are going to the Middle-East so that they can send their siblings to Australia.
She said when the agency post a vacancy announcement, there are many youths applying for the same post. Now the agency can select the best of the best candidates, whereas, earlier they received only a few applicants.
Similarly, Rumi Overseas Employment Agency is also receiving quite a number of applicants. They are sending nearly 200 youths to the Middle-East countries, especially Kuwait.
The spokesperson of Rumi Agency shared that in the past, many of the youth opted for Middle-East, and right after the COVID-19 pandemic, there were not many applicants because many of the youth opted to go to Australia for studies. The situation is different now, as there are many youths who are applying for various overseas jobs because the door to Australia has been shut, especially for those who were trying for diploma courses. Therefore, the only option for them is to go to Middle-East countries.
She shared that a few months ago when many people were easily getting the Australian visa for diploma courses, overseas agencies were also facing difficulties in getting applicants.
Similarly, many overseas agencies are getting more female applicants who want to work in the Middle-East. Apart from the Middle-East countries, there are a few youths who are also going to India to work in various call centers, but so far, there is no placement agency for that.
While for the hotels, hoteliers are also losing staff, wanting to work overseas and going for studies abroad. A manager of a 3-Star hotel in Paro shared that the hotel lost many staff, and they are managing with a fewer number of staff. Almost all hotels are losing their staff, he shared.
In a previous story, a few of the education consultancies shared with The Bhutanese that they have discontinued accepting applications for diploma courses in Australia due to various reasons.
According to the Jobseeker Survey Report 2022, though unemployment is a big concern for the country, placing scarce human resources for employment outside Bhutan has been the last resort to resolve the unemployment issue till the 10th FYP period.
Overseas employment was initiated to meaningfully engage the youth in terms of developing their skills while giving them an opportunity to earn. Over the years, overseas employment has gained a lot of momentum, in terms of popularity, and it is one of the preferred employment choices, which is a matter of concern for the country, considering the high requirement for human resources in our own industries.
Currently, about 79.4 percent of job seekers are currently unemployed, and about 20.6 percent are employed. The proportion of female unemployment rate is slightly higher than that of male unemployment. The employment proportion is 24 percent for those with bachelors’ degree, 16 percent for those with higher secondary education, and 28.7 percent for those with middle secondary education.
Many youths are also heading to India in large numbers especially to work in the service industry like major hotels.
