Local maid agencies turn to Myanmar, Cambodia after Philippines ban (Singapore)

ChannelNewsAsia ^ | 10/16/2013 | Koo Fang Xuan

[TexGrill]

Maid recruitment agencies in Singapore have started turning to new sources of domestic workers like Myanmar and Cambodia. SINGAPORE: Maid recruitment agencies in Singapore have started turning to new sources of domestic workers like Myanmar and Cambodia.

This follows the decision of the Manila-based Association of Licensed Recruitment Agencies to Singapore (ALRAS) to stop deploying Filipino domestic workers to Singapore from September 2 this year.

Maid agencies in Singapore said the Philippine authorities expect employers and not the maids to fork out the placement fees.

The placement fees are for the processing of documents needed before the domestic worker can be sent to Singapore.

But the agencies said not all employers are willing to pay the fees, resulting in a shortage of maids from the Philippines.

They said Filipino maids may also complain to their authorities if the fees were deducted from their salary.

[TexGrill]

Global business tip

[Vigilanteman]

Maid agencies in Singapore said the Philippine authorities expect employers and not the maids to fork out the placement fees.

Sounds like a reasonable requirement to me. Plus it helps weed out potentially unscrupulous employers.

Imagine if the U.S.A. required employers to make a little up front investment in their imported workers rather than dumping it on the taxpayers.

[TheRhinelander]

Happy ending! Happy ending!

[cloudmountain]

The SHAME is on the Philippine government for impoverishing their people with so much IMBEDDED CORRUPIION, so much so that their young women have to hire themselves out ALL OVER THE WORLD because they can't make a living in their own homeland. Shame on them.

[null and void]

Says the man who lives in a country with 40% unemployment in the youth demographic...

[cloudmountain]

WHAT man?

[null and void]

Says the woman who lives in a country with 40% unemployment in the youth demographic...

Better?

(I also have a gender neutral screen name, I get it.)

[cloudmountain]

Says the woman who lives in a country with 40% unemployment in the youth demographic... Better?
(I also have a gender neutral screen name, I get it.)

I forget what we were arguing about. Who has the 40% unemployment? We don't.
I live in the USA. I lived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 35 years ago, with my mechanical engineer husband, who passed away only 3 years ago.

So, remind me what we were arguing about. I don't come on to this site every day. I was away from it for MONTHS and MONTHS and just recently returned. I had forgotten how contentious some folks were.

I DO remember your call sign. It was unusual enough for me to remember. You've been on this site for a while!

[null and void]

I think we were agreeing that a corrupt government makes finding honest work for the young, and especially the young women, challenging.

Youth unemployment in the good ol’ USofA is ~40%, depending on where you look.

[cloudmountain]

I think we were agreeing that a corrupt government makes finding honest work for the young, and especially the young women, challenging.
Youth unemployment in the good ol’ USofA is ~40%, depending on where you look.

Thanks for getting back to me so fast.

Yes, a corrupt government does find it challenging to find honest hard work for the young. Mexico comes to mind for that government we were describing.

After seeing so much of the third world, I find it hard to hear harsh criticism of America. Whenever I came home from the middle east I KISSED the ground of the USA! I just haven't gotten used to it.

I wonder why you think it's the U.S. government's job to find work for the young. I thought that was a parent's job. I'd like our government to stay OUT of the parenting business and let Americans take care of their own youth.

[null and void]

Ah But I don’t think it’s the government’s job to find jobs for the kids.

OTOH, “our” government is doing all it can to eliminate jobs for Americans.

Go to any fast food joint*, do you see American teenagers flipping burgers there, or is it staffed with non-to-barely English speaking adults? Go to a car wash, is the crew wiping the cars local youth or illegal aliens?

Walk into any engineering company, are they mostly Americans or H1-1Bs?

Are the cabbies in your berg Somali or Ethiopian?

*In-n-Out being the exception.

[cloudmountain]

Ah But I don’t think it’s the government’s job to find jobs for the kids.
OTOH, “our” government is doing all it can to eliminate jobs for Americans.
Go to any fast food joint*, do you see American teenagers flipping burgers there, or is it staffed with non-to-barely English speaking adults? Go to a car wash, is the crew wiping the cars local youth or illegal aliens?
Walk into any engineering company, are they mostly Americans or H1-1Bs?
Are the cabbies in your berg Somali or Ethiopian?
*In-n-Out being the exception.

I agree with you 100%

I have a woman come in to clean the house every two weeks, now once a month. I give her $100.00. She does the house in four hours. When her husband and/or daughter are with her, the time is thee hours. She is getting aboout $25.00/hour. Not bad wages, when our minimum wage is $9.00/hour.

Last week she wanted more money. She came on the weekend because it was convenient for HER. She said that she wanted more money for working on the weekend and for her long commute.

She also cleans house for good friends of mine. She charges them $80.00. The house size is the same and there are TWO of them.
She must think that I'm STUPID. Ah me, she isn't smart enough to be crafty and lying.
I did tell her "no." I told her to work ANY day of the week, NOT her precious weekend. I will be interested to know what she says. Can she possibly think that my friends and I wouldn't communicate? Oh well.

She doesn't pay income tax on her earnings.
She gets 2 and 1/2 times more than minimum wage.
She charges me $20.00 MORE for the same work.

We shall see. She's been with us for YEARS.