Prodigal Sons
By Nathalie Bontems • Apr 30th, 2009Lebanese expatriates are flying home in search of job opportunities they can no longer find abroad. But the going is tough.
For the past decade, Lebanese expatriates have been leaving their homeland in search of a better future. Now, many are returning as they try to flee the effects of global recession. Some have lost their jobs abroad. Others feared they would soon be laid off. Most hope to find work in their home country, which has fared well in the downturn.
The few economic sectors in Lebanon that have been struggling to find the enough human capital will happily embrace the new job seekers. But overall, Lebanon has a limited overall absorption capacity when it comes to employment. There are other problems as well, including a shortage of housing and low salaries relative to many Gulf countries, which could make this a missed opportunity for Lebanese firms if experienced expatriates are unable to find work at home.
Jad Chaaban, who teaches economics at the American University of Beirut, estimates that 150,000 Lebanese have work visas in the GCC states. He believes that between 5 and 10 percent of them may return home because of the downturn. That will likely shrink Lebanon’s capacity to generate wealth. According to the World Bank, the Lebanese diaspora sent home $6 billion in remittances last year, about a quarter of the country’s 2007 GDP. But those remittances are expected to drop off significantly in 2009.
“We have seen more applicants ap-ply per job, with an increase of about 30 percent since last year,” says Rabih Mogharbel, CEO of Hire Lebanese, a recruitment firm based in Beirut. “If there is one job opening, you have over 30 percent more applications than last year,” he adds. “I am sure that we will have many more job seekers this year.”
The number of requests submitted to Management Plus, another Beirut-based recruiting company, has surged since November. “We are getting people who still have jobs but who are afraid or fed up,” says Sabbah al-Haj, the company’s chairman. “They feel insecure and whenever such a thing happens, you want to go home. For example, 20 to 25 percent of the requests we have received have been coming from North America, all from people holding [a] very senior position but who are feeling that way.”
