Overseas Manpower to send 350 jobseekers abroad

Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh Limited (Omcap), set up last year by the state government, is hoping to send over 350 jobseekers to countries like the US, UAE, Malaysia and Qatar during the current year.

While the number is a minuscule compared with the emigration of close to 75,000 people from the state every year, the company is making efforts to enhance this by tying up with more overseas employers and their representatives.

"The company has been primarily set up to ensure that the overseas jobseekers do not fall prey to unscrupulous practices, including cheating. Though it is becoming difficult to compete with local recruitment agencies, we are now looking at expanding our network locally as well as in different countries to enhance our placement capacity," Satish Chandra, managing director, Omcap, said here today.

Among the job opportunities in various countries, the company is focusing on the requirement of heavy truck drivers in the US and Canada, plantation workers in Malaysia, and security guards in Macau, China, where several companies have established casinos among other jobs. Last year, the company placed 149 security guards at Macau.

Omcap trained 200 people in heavy truck driving at Vijayawada after it entered an agreement with the US-based recruiting agency Gagan Global LLc last year. Of this, about 65 people have been selected and awaiting H2B visas.

"If we can overcome visa issues, the company can look at this opportunity as, according to Gagan Global, there is a demand for up to 3,000 heavy truck drivers in the US alone," Satish Chandra said.

The company is also holding discussions with plantation firms in Malaysia and Singapore for placement of about 2,000 plantation and construction workers in those countries, according to him.