International labour office geneva

Table 8: Occupation of return migrants: before, during and after migration  

Occupation (%) 

Before Migration 

Whilst Overseas 

After Return 

Technical & Scientific  

22.55 

20.96 

23.07 

Management  

  0.55 

  0.49 

  2.32 

Clerical  

  5.07 

  3.70 

  7.13 

Sales  

  4.01 

  4.16 

  6.72 

Services  

  4.56 

  8.35 

  6.69 

Agriculture  

31.62 

13.75 

28.27 

Production  

31.63 

48.58 

25.80 

Source: Wahba, Jackline (2005), "International Migration, Education and Market Failure in MENA", Background Paper for the World 

Bank’s MENA Regional Report on Education. 

Impact of crisis on the status of migration and 

remittances 

The crisis has resulted in a number of migration trends worldwide. The aim below is 

to investigate whether these trends are likely to prevail in the Egyptian context. Those 

identified include: increased restrictions on admission of migrant workers; non-renewal of 

work permits; worsening employment, working and living conditions; more workers 

compelled to return home, where they face inferior economic conditions; remittance flows 

slowing; and, increases in irregular migration occurring in informal markets to meet the 

demand from employers seeking cheaper labour in countries of destination (Center for 

Non-Traditional Security Studies, 2009). The World Bank (2009b) projected a decline of 

26 

Labour migration for decent work, economic growth and development in Egypt

 

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Labour migration for decent work, economic growth and development in Egypt  

27 

5–8 per cent in remittances in 2009, following the crisis. These estimates were further 

revised downwards to be in the range of 7–10 per cent in 2009 (World Bank, 2009c). The 

decline in remittances denominated in nominal US dollars is small relative to the projected 

fall in private capital flows and official development assistance. Remittances, as described 

by the World Bank (2009b; 2009c), proved to be more resilient compared to other types of 

capital flows. The World Bank (2009b) lists a number of reasons for the resilience of 

remittances in the face of economic downturns in host countries including: (a) nature of 

remittances that are sent by cumulated flows of migrants over the years, and not only new 

migrants; (b) remittances constituting a small portion of migrants' income; (c) the “safe 

haven” factor or “home-bias” can cause remittances for investment purposes to return 

home during an economic downturn in the host country; and (d) the generous fiscal 

stimulus packages undertaken by several high-income OECD remittance source countries 

are likely to increase demand for both native and migrant workers. Such factors seem to 

have played a positive role in the case of Egypt where remittances have not declined 

sharply as shown in Figure 6.

 

The crisis has affected the Egyptian economy where the GDP growth rate was revised 

downwards from an actual 7.2 per cent in 2007/2009 to an expected 4 per cent in 

2008/2009. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was down by 50 per cent and the balance of 

payments turned from a surplus into a deficit in the second quarter of 2008/2009. Radwan 

(2009) identified that job opportunities decreased by 30 per cent when comparing the 

second quarter of 2008/2009 (128,000 job opportunities) with the second quarter of 

2007/2008 (181,000 job opportunities). Remittances did not experience any decrease in 

2008 and experienced a slight decrease in the first quarter of 2009, as shown in Figure 6. 

The decrease in the second quarter was much more drastic compared to the second quarter 

in 2008. However, it should be noted that compared to remittance levels in 2007, 

remittances in the first quarter of 2009 increased and experienced a slight decrease in the 

second quarter.