Foreigners to be appointed to jobs where no Maldivians are available

Workers at a construction site | Photo: Mihaaru

Malé, Maldives – Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail said that arrangements are being made such that foreign workers can be appointed to fields where there are no Maldivians available.

Speaking at the “Rahvehi Fathis” campaign gathering of MDP, Minister Fayyaz said that efforts are being made to employ Maldivian workers to various fields and that a programme is currently underway with the aid of World Bank. He said that the current programme is for the development of Maldivian accountants and that a special priority is given to employ Maldivians in resorts including jobs such as that of the middle management level.

Minister Fayyaz added that while the development of the job centre is now ongoing, with efforts are being made to bring changes to the system under which foreign workers are brought to Maldives. He said that a job cannot be offered to a foreigner while there is a local registered at the job centre who is also applying for the position.

There is currently a huge population of expatriate workers in Maldives and a number of these workers are undocumented. This ends up costing the state by billions each year. Foreign workers now dominate fields such as construction which were jobs once held by Maldivians.