News
Foreign jobs: growing mismatch between SL supply and global demand: World Bank
Too many housemaids, too few skilled workers
By APSARA RODRIGO
ECONOMYNEXT –There are indications of a growing mismatch between recruitment of Sri Lankan workers (supply) and global job vacancies (demand) in foreign employment, with increasing supply shortages – especially for skilled jobs, a World Bank report shows.
“You have overseas workers that are sending remittances to Sri Lanka; however there is a difference in their skills,” Shobana Sosale co-author of the World Bank report, ‘Enhancing Skills in Sri Lanka for Inclusion, Recovery, and Resilience’, said at its launch this week.
“Job vacancies for foreign employment have been stable. Yet supply has been falling faster than demand,” according to the report, which cites government-registered sources. “The mismatch exists across all skill levels and has been growing evenly over the years, but it is much higher for skilled workers, for whom only 10 percent of job vacancies were filled in 2022, up from five percent in 2020 and 2021.”
According to the report’s findings, only five per cent of 700,000 foreign vacancies available could be filled. “Few workers enter the job market with appropriate skills training.” Housemaids were in greater supply, with approximately 17 percent in 2020 and 11 percent in 2021.
Sri Lanka has been promoting migrant workers who are a major source of forex for the cash-strapped country. The national foreign employment policy does focus on investing in a skilled workforce, to wean itself from dependence on remittances from low-skilled workers, through vocational and professional training, the report said.
“The Foreign Employment Bureau advices all workers to receive NVQ through the recognition of prior learning route or by attending training courses at a training institute,” the World Bank report pointed out. “This approach is to ensure that workers have qualifications of internationally verifiable standards for their employment in both domestic and high-income countries.”
To become globally competitive, Sri Lanka’s workforce must gain the technical competencies and higher-order cognitive skills needed in domestic and foreign labour markets.
Three Sri Lankan leopard cubs that were born at the Singapore Zoo on Jan 1 have now made their public debut at the facility.
The two males and one female, born to mother Yala and father Asanka, are the first of their species yo be born at the Singapore Zoo. The last successful birth in Singapore was recorded at the Night Safari three decades ago.
The triplets, which are the pair’s first litter, are among around 80 Sri Lankan leopards in zoos worldwide.
The species is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with fewer than 800 individuals estimated to remain in the wild.
Visitors can now see the triplets at the Wild Africa exhibit, said the Mandai Wildlife Group in a statement on April 16.
The cubs can be found in the exhibit with their mother daily until mid-May and, subsequently, every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Yala with her cubs in their nest box, a month after their birth on Jan 1. (Straits Times)
A leopard cub investigating a piece of meat suspended from a tree – one of the several enrichment items in the Wild Africa exhibit designed to keep the cats mentally and physically stimulated. (Straits Times)
Mandai Wildlife Group curator Anand Kumar said it took nearly three years and close collaboration across continents to bring together a compatible pair of Sri Lankan leopards.
(Straits Times)
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-zoos-first-sri-lankan-leopard-cubs-make-their-public-debut?ref=top-stories
The Sri Lanka Navy has seized a local multi- day fishing trawler, it’s four man crew together with a consignment suspected to be narcotics off the Southern Coast of the island.
The vessel is presently being escorted to the Dikowita fisheries harbour for further investigations and legal proceedings.
Latest News
Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 15 April 2026, valid for 16 April 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern
and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491
Singapore Zoo’s first Sri Lankan leopard cubs make their public debut
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