Expat students demand part-time jobs

With summer holidays just around the corner, expatriate students are searching for part-time jobs to pass their time productively. However, they have been hindered by legalities that do not allow youngsters to earn or gain professional experience if they are not under a work visa.

DT had yesterday reported that local students had been struggling to find summer jobs to gain professional know-how apart from keeping them engaged during the holidays.

Following the report, expatriate students who have chosen to stay in Bahrain during the summer also expressed their wish to beget part-time jobs.

Malcolm D’souza, 21, said, “Jobs are available in the summer but they are restricted to locals due to LMRA regulations. I wish there was an agency or a website set up by the government to give us temporary employment during long holidays like the summer. I don’t like being dependent on my parents for pocket money all the time. And there is a different level of satisfaction one gets out of work and hard earned cash.

Experience is another important factor behind working, as it is important to have minimal work experience while graduating because that serves as a backdrop for future jobs. Moreover, Bahrain would benefit with the extra manpower it has on hand.”

Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) has certain restrictions with regard to foreign employees. In order to hire any foreign employee, an investor is required to obtain a work permit and residence permit for each expatriate employee. This would mean changing the employee’s current visa under the company’s visa.“It’s been quite an ordeal finding a job”, says Indian student Sahil Prakash, 19. “I have searched the classifieds, websites and yellow pages, but in vain. The biggest contributing factor to this are LMRA’s new rules and regulations regarding employees.

Expatriate students like me obviously cannot change their visa and be committed to a full time job while studying. I wish I didn’t have to sit idle at home and could channel my energies more usefully”

Farzad Fuard, a Sri Lankan student who studies in Leeds, the UK, flies to Bahrain every summer to spend time with his family. “In the UK, there are various jobs available in fast food joints and shopping stores all through the year for students to take up even as they study. I feel Bahrain should do the same. I have been searching for the past one month for an accounting job and I am still in the same situation. On personal thoughts, the rules here are quite hard and fast when it comes to student jobs.”

Another expatriate student, Abraham Mathew, expressed his feelings towards the unavailability of jobs. “There is hardly any scope for small time jobs for foreign expatriates in Bahrain. Other countries have a proper working culture and students are permitted to work as they study in various organisations such as stores, rent shops, fast-food joints, door-to-door sales, etc. We all need to have a little work experience so that we would know where exactly our professional interest lies.”