Foreign jobs dry up for Indian workers

UNPROMISING LANDS Tighter norms in western nations, slowdown in oilfuelled Gulf economies have hit Indians hard

Job opportunities abroad plummeted in 2016, recruitment and remittances data show, projecting an employment crisis brought on by upheaval in the oil economies of Gulf countries and rising protectionism in the West.

The year saw a 33% fall in Indians getting jobs in the six Gulf countries — the destination for 90% of Indians emigrating for blue-collar jobs.

It also saw the rise of political and economic conservatism, with nations such as the United States and Australia deciding to put up protectionist curbs in skilled sectors such as software.

“The crisis in Gulf is something that affects us in more ways than one. The workers here send most of their earnings back home,” said a diplomat from a Gulf country, pointing to an effect reflected in remittances to India.

The World Bank said on Friday that India saw an 8.9% drop in dip in jobs for Indians compared to last year

drop in Saudi alone

of H-1B visas issued for workers in computer space go to Indians; this may drop to 60%

of skilled foreign worker visas are held by Indians who are facing problems after salary thresholds for visas were raised money sent back by its citizens from other countries in 2016, a sharp decline compared to the 1% dip in 2015. India saw $69.6 billion in remittance from 2014, which dipped to $68.9bn in 2015 before falling to $62.7bn last year.

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visa, meant for foreign skilled workers up to 4 years, abolished. Indians constitute 30% of these visa holders

workers or more mean employer must advertise vacancy for 2 weeks before seeking employment pass for an international worker

Digital identities of more than a million citizens have been compromised by a programming error on a website maintained by Jharkhand Directorate of Social Security.

The glitch revealed the names, addresses, Aadhaar numbers and bank account details of the beneficiaries of Jharkhand’s old-age pension scheme.

Jharkhand has over 1.6 million pensioners, 1.4 million of whom have seeded their bank accounts with their Aadhaar numbers. Their personal details are now freely available to anyone who logs onto the website, a major privacy breach at a time when the top court and opposition parties have questioned a government policy to make Aadhaar mandatory to get benefits of a number of schemes and services. ››P8