Gulf job pipeline tightens for Nepali workers
New approvals for Nepalis headed to Gulf jobs have fallen by more than half, Kathmandu Post reports.
New Gulf hiring for Nepali workers has dropped sharply as the Iran conflict strains Gulf economies, Kathmandu Post reports. Department of Foreign Employment data cited by the Post show new labour approvals for Gulf jobs fell 52.12 percent, from 228,165 to 109,249, between the start of the war and mid-September compared with the same period last year. The biggest declines were in the UAE and Saudi Arabia; Oman was the exception. The Post describes workers caught in limbo: Dharan chef Arun Rai says an Abu Dhabi hotel sent him home on unpaid leave in March and still has not told him he is out. Pokhara’s Shankar Lal Shrestha says his Qatar employer shut down and still owes him wages and gratuity. Nearly 60 percent of Nepalis working abroad, about 1.9 million people, are in the Persian Gulf, according to Nepal’s foreign ministry. The government lacks reliable numbers on how many Nepalis have lost jobs or returned on unpaid leave. UNDP warned Gulf labour pressure could raise unemployment among low-skilled workers if disruption continues, while the World Bank projected Gulf growth slowing from 4.4 percent in 2025 to 1.3 percent in 2026.
Why it matters: This is a remittance-risk story for the diaspora: the World Bank identified lower remittances as one possible fallout, and the Post says Nepal has limited jobs at home plus a wide domestic-overseas wage gap. For families tracking work routes between Nepal and the Gulf, that changes the math.
Sources
This post summarizes reporting by the outlets above; read them for the full story. Fact-checked against the sources before publishing. Corrections: ashik@ashik.ai