24th June 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com
Sri Lanka's information and communications technology workforce has doubled in the past four years as the island ramps up training and investment to make the sector a key export industry.
A new survey said the number of ICT sector jobs increased by 100 percent to over 62,000 this year from 30,120 in 2006. Over 50,000 people are estimated to have been employed in the IT sector in 2010.
The national ITC workforce survey by the state-run Information and Communication Technology Agency covered 80 state institutions, 325 private sector firms, 30 BPO (business processing outsourcing) firms, and 75 IT training institutes.
It also showed that the number of female workers in the BPO sector was increasing and now accounted for 43 percent of the total BPO workforce
Reshan Dewapura, chief executive of ICTA, there had been 4,473 ICT graduates in 2010 of whom 3,970 were employed.
The ICT sector earns 375 million dollars a year and is now the island's fifth highest foreign exchange earner, he told a news conference.
The industry aims to increase the ICT sector export earnings to a billion dollars by 2016, he said.
Related Info :
• Sri Lanka Offers IT BPO Companies Tax Holidays upto 12 Years. Australian Business Consultancy Firm CAMMS Sees Sri Lanka as the Next Big Opportunity
• Sri Lanka IT/BPO Sector Targets Niche Markets in Finance & Accounting, Telco, Travel and Aviation
• Sri Lankan IT & BPO Industry to Grow by 26pct in 2011. SLASSCOM Launches Careers Initiative for Capacity Building
Showing posts with label workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label workers. Show all posts
06 March 2010
Expatriate Sri Lankans Remit 3.3bln Dollars Last Year. 14% Increase over 2008
06th March 2010, www.dailynews.lkThe remittances of expatriate Sri Lankans has recorded an unprecedented increase to 3.3 billion dollars (Over Rs 350 billion) last year.
It was a 14 percent increase over the remittances during the previous year, 2008, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said yesterday.
One of the reasons attributed to this considerable increase in remittances by Sri Lankans working abroad was the information and education given to them by the SLBFE on finance management and security of dealing with banks of repute or with state sector banks.
It had been made compulsory for those going abroad for employment to open Non-Residential Foreign Currency accounts, he said in a press release. Another reason was that Sri Lankan domestic aides working in West Asian countries were sent for employment only after signing a legal employment agreement. The efforts of Foreign Employment Promotion Minister Kehaliya Rambukwella to hold talks with the labour authorities abroad, had made it possible to get salary increments for domestic aides in that particular region after 11 years, the release also stated.
There was also an increase in the number of Sri Lankans that went abroad for employment last year. The number was 247,119 of which 77,826 had gone to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 43,744 to Qatar and 42,400 to Kuwait. Generally, a majority of Sri Lankans working abroad, around 1.3 million are employed in the West Asian region and their remittances are a major contribution to the national economy.
23 November 2009
Remittances Boom in South Asia and strong Flows to East Asia and the Pacific
23rd November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk
Migrant workers have sent less money home during the economic crisis, but new data released last week indicate remittances overall will decline less than expected in 2009, thanks mainly to a remittances 'boom' in South Asia and strong flows to East Asia and the Pacific.
New data indicates global remittances will fall to US$ 317 billion in 2009, down from a higher-than-originally-predicted US$ 338 billion in 2008. The expected 6.1 percent drop is smaller than the World Bank's July prediction of 7.3 percent.
Shallow recovery
But the World Bank warns remittances may only have a shallow recovery in 2010 and 2011, especially if the economic recovery turns out to be jobless. And future remittances flows may be affected by additional factors such as tighter immigration controls and unpredictable exchange rate movements.
Even so, remittances will likely stay more resilient than other forms of income and become even more important as a source of development financing in many developing countries, says Dilip Ratha, Lead Economist and Manager of the Migration and Remittances Team in the Development Prospects Group.
"The most important new finding that we have come to, after monitoring the flows for the last 12 months or so during the crisis, is that even during a crisis in the migrant destination countries, remittances tend to be resilient. They don't fall as much as private capital flows," says Ratha.
Asia remittances stronger than expected
While fewer people left their home countries to find work abroad during the economic crisis, existing migrant workers mainly stayed put despite weaker job markets and tried to send money home by cutting living costs, Ratha says on his blog, People Move.
Remittance flows to South Asia so far in 2009 are "booming," says Ratha. Remittances to Pakistan increased by 24 percent in the first eight months of 2009, while flows to Bangladesh and Nepal increased by 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Flows to East Asia and the Pacific also exceeded expectations and the region could experience a surge in remittances in the last quarter of 2009, as migrants send money to help their families affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng and the earthquake in the Pacific Islands, according to the November 3 Migration and Development Brief.
However, remittances dropped more than expected in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa. Flows to Mexico declined by 13.4 percent in the first nine months of 2009, but appear to have bottomed out. Egypt's remittances fell by 20 percent, and Morocco experienced a similar rate of decline.
In Europe and Central Asia, flows to Armenia and Tajikistan declined by more than 30 percent in the first half of 2009. Poland and Romania also experienced a sharp slowdown in flows.
Remittances flows to Sub-Saharan Africa did better than forecasted, with flows to Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda showing higher growth or smaller declines than expected.
Growth likely to be 'almost flat' in 2010
Remittance flows are expected to remain "almost flat" in 2010, with a modest increase of 1.4 percent, and to grow by 3.9 percent in 2011, according to the new brief. "With this sluggish pace of recovery, remittance flows are unlikely to reach the 2008 level even by 2011," the brief says.
The outlook could be more negative if the crisis lasts longer than expected and recovery is cut short in emerging sectors, such as construction.
Another risk is if weak job markets in the destination countries of migrant workers lead to further tightening of immigration controls. The brief notes that several European countries are considering measures that may reduce the inflows of new migrants.
And a third source of risk to the outlook is if exchange rate movements affect the value of remittances in workers' home countries or make it less attractive to send money home.
Still, at over $300 billion a year, remittance flows provide an enormous source of development financing, offering a ray of hope in difficult times, says the brief.
Migrant workers have sent less money home during the economic crisis, but new data released last week indicate remittances overall will decline less than expected in 2009, thanks mainly to a remittances 'boom' in South Asia and strong flows to East Asia and the Pacific.
New data indicates global remittances will fall to US$ 317 billion in 2009, down from a higher-than-originally-predicted US$ 338 billion in 2008. The expected 6.1 percent drop is smaller than the World Bank's July prediction of 7.3 percent.
Shallow recovery
But the World Bank warns remittances may only have a shallow recovery in 2010 and 2011, especially if the economic recovery turns out to be jobless. And future remittances flows may be affected by additional factors such as tighter immigration controls and unpredictable exchange rate movements.
Even so, remittances will likely stay more resilient than other forms of income and become even more important as a source of development financing in many developing countries, says Dilip Ratha, Lead Economist and Manager of the Migration and Remittances Team in the Development Prospects Group.
"The most important new finding that we have come to, after monitoring the flows for the last 12 months or so during the crisis, is that even during a crisis in the migrant destination countries, remittances tend to be resilient. They don't fall as much as private capital flows," says Ratha.
Asia remittances stronger than expected
While fewer people left their home countries to find work abroad during the economic crisis, existing migrant workers mainly stayed put despite weaker job markets and tried to send money home by cutting living costs, Ratha says on his blog, People Move.
Remittance flows to South Asia so far in 2009 are "booming," says Ratha. Remittances to Pakistan increased by 24 percent in the first eight months of 2009, while flows to Bangladesh and Nepal increased by 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Flows to East Asia and the Pacific also exceeded expectations and the region could experience a surge in remittances in the last quarter of 2009, as migrants send money to help their families affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng and the earthquake in the Pacific Islands, according to the November 3 Migration and Development Brief.
However, remittances dropped more than expected in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa. Flows to Mexico declined by 13.4 percent in the first nine months of 2009, but appear to have bottomed out. Egypt's remittances fell by 20 percent, and Morocco experienced a similar rate of decline.
In Europe and Central Asia, flows to Armenia and Tajikistan declined by more than 30 percent in the first half of 2009. Poland and Romania also experienced a sharp slowdown in flows.
Remittances flows to Sub-Saharan Africa did better than forecasted, with flows to Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda showing higher growth or smaller declines than expected.
Growth likely to be 'almost flat' in 2010
Remittance flows are expected to remain "almost flat" in 2010, with a modest increase of 1.4 percent, and to grow by 3.9 percent in 2011, according to the new brief. "With this sluggish pace of recovery, remittance flows are unlikely to reach the 2008 level even by 2011," the brief says.
The outlook could be more negative if the crisis lasts longer than expected and recovery is cut short in emerging sectors, such as construction.
Another risk is if weak job markets in the destination countries of migrant workers lead to further tightening of immigration controls. The brief notes that several European countries are considering measures that may reduce the inflows of new migrants.
And a third source of risk to the outlook is if exchange rate movements affect the value of remittances in workers' home countries or make it less attractive to send money home.
Still, at over $300 billion a year, remittance flows provide an enormous source of development financing, offering a ray of hope in difficult times, says the brief.
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