Latest news with #skilledWorkers
Arab News
24-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan to export female beauticians to Saudi Arabia — state media
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) will send skilled female beauticians to Saudi Arabia in response to a demand from a private firm in the Kingdom, state media reported on Friday, outlining the qualifications required for applicants. The initiative comes as part of Pakistan's long-standing labor export relationship with Saudi Arabia, which remains the top destination for Pakistani workers and contributes over $700 million in monthly remittances to the South Asian country. Pakistan regularly sends skilled labor to Gulf nations, including medical professionals, engineers and technicians. The latest move targets the beauty and personal care sector. 'Overseas Employment Corporation, an attached department of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, will export skilled workers (female beauticians) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,' the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. It informed a Saudi firm is seeking beauticians for various roles, including senior hairdresser, nail technician (gel and acrylic), eyelash specialist, makeup artist, waxing and bleaching specialist and wig technician. The required qualifications include a minimum of three years' experience and an age limit of under 40 years. APP said the firm will offer senior beauticians a monthly salary of 3,000 Saudi Riyals or approximately $800. Employees will also receive free shared accommodation with furnishings and air conditioning, food allowance, and round-trip airfare, along with surface transport within Saudi Arabia if needed. The news report said applications must be submitted via the OEC website by June 8. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy robust economic, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom hosts over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and remains the largest source of remittances to Pakistan, a crucial lifeline for the country's cash-strapped economy.
New York Times
24-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Hong Kong's Famous Bamboo Scaffolding Hangs On (for Now)
As a truckload of bamboo poles pulled into a narrow street, Daisy Pak stubbed out a cigarette, pulled a safety harness over her paint-streaked leggings and began blasting Prince from a Bluetooth speaker. After maneuvering a loaded cart into an elevator, she opened a tiny window on the ninth floor and ducked out onto a narrow pipe, a bunch of zip ties sashaying behind her back like a bushy tail. She called for mid-length bamboo poles that she tied into a latticework clinging to the outside of the building. Ms. Pak, 31, is one of the few female bamboo scaffolding workers in Hong Kong, using an ancient Chinese practice that is synonymous with the city even as its use has faded elsewhere in China. She turned to the industry for a fresh start in 2021, after a hardscrabble upbringing and falling into drug addiction and debt. There was a demand for skilled construction workers, it paid relatively well, and she had a passion for the time-honored craft. 'It's so special, to build something completely all out of bamboo,' she said. Traditionally, workers learn their craft by shadowing one master with knowledge passed down through generations. But Ms Pak learned any way she could, working with different bosses to broaden her skills and techniques, and overcoming taunts about her ability as a novice and her 5-foot-1 stature. While dismantling a scaffold, a colleague once tossed her poles to catch instead of passing them downward. Contractors have tried to pay her less than she was promised. Her arms and legs were constantly bruised, but she carried on. 'I was born with the will to prove people wrong, to do things that they say cannot be done,' she said. But the industry that helped transform her life now faces its own uncertain future. Some, like Ms. Pak, are worried after Hong Kong's development bureau issued a memo in March requiring at least half of government projects to use metal scaffolding in an effort to gradually widen its use to keep pace with modern industry practices and improve safety. The city is one of the last bastions of an art — and later industry — that was first depicted in scroll paintings from the Han dynasty around 2,000 years ago, and it has thrived in bamboo-rich regions in China. But in the past two decades, the rest of China pivoted toward metal amid an overproduction of steel. Lattices of bamboo poles bound together by intricate knots regularly rise across the city to build and renovate apartment blocks and commercial skyscrapers that can be dozens of stories high. Advocates of the material, including Ms. Pak, say it is lighter and cheaper than metal to transport and carry in Hong Kong's tight urban spaces. Builders particularly favor the material when erecting platforms that support workers who patch up building exteriors and replace old pipes and window sills. The government development bureau wrote in a statement that metal scaffolds offered better fire resistance and were more rigid and durable. But it added that it had no intention to phase out bamboo scaffolds entirely, 'particularly in special circumstances including limited working space on site.' Tony Za, the former chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers' building division, said that a spate of industrial accidents involving bamboo structures had prompted safety concerns. Metal scaffolds are more suitable for large-scale construction projects as skyscrapers grow taller and building materials change to include more glass, Mr. Za said. For metal scaffolding, engineers can make decisions such as how thick a pole to use and how far apart to space the ringlocks based on calculations accounting for load and extreme weather, Mr. Za said. But that cannot be done for bamboo scaffolds, because the poles do not come in uniform shapes, requiring the discretion of bamboo masters. Ms. Pak had the foresight to get licensed to work with metal scaffolds last year, saying she already used some metal components, such as platforms. 'They reinforce one another, like brothers scaling a mountain together,' she said. But her love for bamboo, bordering on sentimentality, has only grown. 'The material is so dynamic and resilient,' she said. 'It's just like the spirit of Hong Kong.' Passers-by often do a double take when they watch her haul a bundle of seven-foot bamboo poles with ease. Raised by a single mother, Ms. Pak worked in a seedy nightclub for a while but moved into construction during the pandemic. The daily rate for novices was about $90 and could go up to $250 for a skilled worker. With no connections in the industry, she trawled scaffolding groups on Facebook, asking if anyone would hire a female worker. Many contractors responded out of curiosity, she said. For the first year, she stayed on the ground, passing tools and bamboo poles several times her height to more seasoned workers dangling from rooftops and balconies. She said she earned greater acceptance as she became more experienced. She amassed several qualifications in the industry, including what is nicknamed the 'master license.' 'I am now respected,' she said. On a recent day off, she traveled to the outlying Po Toi Island to visit Kenny Lee, a veteran builder of open-air bamboo theaters outside temples used for religious celebrations and Cantonese opera performances. The technique for making such structures has been designated by the government as an intangible part of the cultural heritage. In recent weeks, Mr. Lee and his crew of about 10 builders constructed a theater at a cliff-side temple ahead of performances marking the birthday of Tin Hau, the goddess of seafarers. With minimal direction, the builders worked in synchrony: hauling heavy wooden logs and bamboo poles, and clambering up and down the theater's soaring rooftop. It was built upon uneven rocks; in high tide, the fir pillars slanted into the waters. 'There's joy and there's sorrow in this work,' Mr. Lee, 57, said, recounting days when he worked through typhoons to meet deadlines, even as hurricane-force winds hurled flower pots from neighboring buildings. In his heyday, Mr. Lee would build and dismantle as many as 30 bamboo theaters across the city every year. But the pandemic hit the business, and there is more profit to be made with the construction jobs that he needs to make ends meet, he said. 'You can't really make money,' he said. 'I do it for the gods, then for the brothers.' Ms. Pak has ideas on how to make the industry more accessible to newcomers and the public. She has taught high school students how to build a small scaffold and is preparing to launch a YouTube channel with tutorials on basic skills, such as tying knots with zip ties. Ms. Pak bought sour plum juice on the way to the temple to give to the crew and traded stories with them. She worked up the gumption to ask Mr. Lee to hire her for his next bamboo theater project. 'It would be a shame if the tradition dies in our hands,' she said.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK employers: how might your business be affected by plans to reduce migration to Britain?
The government's immigration white paper aims to reduce the number of people arriving in the UK 'significantly' by introducing restrictions across various forms of visas. Changes include the requirement of degree-level qualifications rather than those that are roughly equivalent to A-levels for skilled work visa applicants. Language requirements are to become more strict, with all adult dependants who come with arriving workers or students needing to show at least basic English skills, and to show progression over time. People will also have to wait at least 10 years to see settlement, rather than the current five. We'd like to know how your business might be affected by Labour's plans. Do you have concerns? We'd also like to know why your business has been recruiting from abroad instead of from the UK, if applicable. If you're a UK employer, tell us how your business may be impacted by the new immigration white paper, and why you have been recruiting from abroad, if applicable Please include as much detail as possible Please include as much detail as possible Please include as much detail as possible Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first. Contact us on WhatsApp at +447766780300. For more information, please see our guidance on contacting us via WhatsApp. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead. If you're having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.
Bloomberg
10-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Proposes Tightening Visa Rules to Reduce Legal Migration
The UK government is seeking to tighten visa requirements to curb the number of workers arriving in the country through legal routes. The measures — outlined in the Immigration White Paper — propose new graduate level requirements for skilled visa applicants and limits on lower-skilled visas. A group will be assigned to identify where industries rely too much on foreign labor, according to a Home Office announcement Sunday.
