TRIANGLE II Quarterly Briefing Note: Cambodia (January - March 2016)

With 300,000 young Cambodians entering the labour market each year and no nationally set minimum wage, many Cambodian workers go abroad seeking employment opportunities and higher wages. The primary destination country for Cambodian migrant workers is Thailand, with workers commonly migrating into the fishing, agriculture, livestock, construction, manufacturing and service sectors, including domestic work

Cambodian women migrant workers tend to migrate into low-skilled jobs in construction, agriculture, manufacturing, entertainment, hospitality and domestic work industries. Reports of abuse and exploitation of domestic workers have been recorded in all countries where Cambodian domestic workers are employed. With ageing populations in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, demand for household and caregiving services in the region is expected to continue to grow. At the same time, countries like Indonesia and the Philippines that have traditionally deployed large numbers of domestic workers are looking to reduce the number migrating abroad to work in the sector.