Manpower Minister Dr. Nahed al-Ashry said that 877 offshore employment agencies are currently active, after the licenses of 270 agencies have been canceled for failing to comply with the licensing conditions. Other 28 agencies were suspended temporarily.
In remarks on Monday, the minister said that according to the law, 2 percent of the worker’s total wage from the first year should be allocated to the employment agency that contracted him. However, this legislation violates an international regulation that Egypt follows since 1997, which banned this kind of indirect fees.
Al-Ashry said that these companies obtain around LE7,000-10,000 from blue-collar workers during their first year of employment, compared to LE20,000-LE50,000 from teachers, accountants, engineers, doctors, experts or other white-collar employees.
These companies are obliged to carry out the work visa procedures and ratifying the certificates of the traveling workers. However, according to the minister, they are failing to reach their targets, since less than 25,000 jobs were provided by all the licensed employment agencies in 2014.
Al-Ashry attributed this to the companies' focus on the quick income, which leads to their limited role in reducing unemployment rates.
The ministry, according to al-Ashry, has held several meetings with representatives of the agencies to discuss the shortcomings. This has not brought the desired results, although the ministry worked on resolving the issued they mentioned.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
