Lately I have been asking people from various backgrounds what they think Manpower agencies in Nepal are all about. Some of the answers were affirmative, but most of them were very stereotypical. Manpower in Nepal is in search of quality jobs to a great extent, but the recruiting sector is quite a negative one.
"Manpower recruitment agencies in Nepal are useful but the way they are seen is negative. I guess I can compare it with Politics. Politics is something useful and necessary, but the politicians being the ones who are bad and not politic has turned it out so negatively. So is for manpower agencies. For me Manpower agencies provide employment opportunities to jobless youth like us which is good but the owner who run it by cheating us is bad." This was the view of Madav Dhakal, a student of Engineering

"The manpower agencies in Nepal should be closed down. They give so much problem to the innocent people from villages and small towns. The government gets paid commission by them so they do nothing to bring action against the corrupt manpower agencies" a view shared by Hari Babu, as small grocery shop owner.

"We take notice of so many Nepalese being mistreated, cheated when they go for jobs out of Nepal. So I think manpower offices should be controlled by the government and police. People look for jobs in the Gulf countries because jobs in Nepal are not easily available for them. The problems that our Nepali brothers and sisters face when looking for a job is not a new issue. But it's so odd to find the Government not serious about the issues at all. At the same time I believe the owner of manpower agencies and the Shram (department of foreign employment) should be more strict to avoid these problems completely. If the concerned bodies want to solve the issues seriously, it won't be a big issue" A very interesting and considerable view of Mamta Lama, a house wife

The number counts on. We keep on meeting new people, but the perception is pretty similar. "Government cannot give us anything so manpower agencies take full advantage to exploit us. In Kathmandu, we do get jobs but the payment is very less. For the same work we do aboard, we get triple the amount, if not double is for sure. So we naturally want to go through a manpower agency to obtain a good earning job. but in the same time I am scared to move ahead going through so many negative reviews about manpower agencies in Nepal. Two of my friends went to UAE for hospitality job but they were shocked when they were asked to look after sheep. How can we trust manpower agencies to pay a very high amount to get this kind of job aboard." Anil Shreshtha, a waiter at a cafe gets disappointed.

It is very shocking to see how people think about the same agencies that work for Manpower in Nepal to get quality jobs and are regarded as one of the most supportive facet of the country's economy. There are many factors for this observation by common people. The agency is the same but the way it is looked at is very different. And we find out that most have this very stereotype of thinking. Yes, a few face problems while going for employment aboard but people tend to forget that out of thousands only a few face problems and the thousands are making a good living working abroad. This point seems to be always conveniently left out.