Why do migrant workers come to the Gulf?
The oil boom has created tens of thousands of jobs for labourers, maids, cleaners and drivers to fill a gap in the labour market. Rapid economic growth has ensured that there have been millions of positions to fill in the gulf, and even in the current global economic downturn, workers from all across the world are still being recruited. The overwhelming majority of these migrant workers come from developing countries, and travel to the Gulf with the aim of earning enough money to send back to their families back home. The money that they send back (remittances) is an extremely important source of foreign exchange for many developing countries, and a accounts for a high share of GDP in countries such as the Philippines and Nepal (11% and 17% respectively).
