IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
In many countries, foreign labor is an important part of the economy. Using migrant labor can contribute to the development of a country, but it can also cause economic problems.
What are some of the advantages and drawbacks of expatriate labor for a country’s economy?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Model Answer:
Foreign workers, in many countries like Malaysia, UAE, Singapore, and even the USA, contribute to the development to a great extent. While expatriate labours have certain advantage, they can also turn into burden for the economy of the country. In this essay, I will focus on both side of the coin: advantage and disadvantage.
Foreign workers impart many benefits to the host country. First of all, they meet the scarcity of certain job field. Take Malaysia for example. It is bereft of skilled worker at building construction. Therefore, expatriate workers are blessing for Malaysia due to the fact that Malaysian people have not got high skill of building construction. Secondly, foreign workers are usually cheap. They are generally satisfied with the wages which are high in comparison to their home country. Moreover, foreign workers are likely to do many odd jobs which local people are reluctant to do. Last but not the least, when a country is lacked of professional worker, government of the country imports professional workers from another country to work at the country to share their expertise with local people. For instance, every year Malaysian government hires professional workers to be employed in particular sectors like education, medical, construction, and many more. All these advantages manifest that the economy is benefited in manifold ways.
On the flip side, migrant workers also pull back the economy. One vital factor is that they send an ample of money home, instead of spending it. This leads to the loss of foreign exchange for the host country. In addition, foreign workers not only take jobs away from the local, but also reduce the wages for some jobs. For example, local people prefer a job with high salary. In many cases, foreign labours want to do the same job in comparatively low salaries. Consequently, employers can get workers with less salary. In this way, expatriate workers contribute to reducing salaries and lead to unemployment problem. The influx of migrant workers leads to overpopulation. Overpopulation means pressure on services such as housing or hospitals and this is an extra burden for the state which has to pay the cost. These facts can evolve economica crisis for the state.
To wrap up, in my opinion, all that I want to say that there must need some control over the use of migrant workers so that they cannot cut off the labour market for locals. The country ought to emphasize on the citizen before leaning outside for workers.