"We Help the World Move — But Can't Keep Our Own People"
The Retention Crisis Inside Sri Lanka's Education & Migration Consulting Industry
By Rasiah Keerthana | MBA Batch 37 | Jul 2026
Let’s Be Honest About This Industry
Working in education and migration consulting in Sri Lanka right now is
one of the most rewarding and most exhausting things a person can do. We are in
the business of changing lives, helping students find pathways abroad, guiding
families through life-defining decisions, and navigating an immigration
landscape that shifts faster than most people can keep up with. But if we are
being honest, there is a question we rarely ask out loud: who is looking after
the people doing all of this? Because right now, across the industry, the
answer is not many.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis changed everything. The statistics below tell
part of the story, but behind every number is a consulting firm scrambling to
meet surging demand with a team that is itself quietly considering its own
options abroad.
Key Statistics — Sri Lanka Migration Crisis
- 311,000+ Sri Lankans left for foreign employment in 2022
- 468% increase in UK-bound students over five years
- 66% of departing workers classified as skilled (up from 58% in 2018)
Sources: Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment (2023); British Council (2024)
The Client Who Doesn’t Know What They Want, But Needs an Answer Today
Here is a scenario every consultant in this industry will recognize. Someone calls asking about a destination they heard about from a friend, a Facebook post, or a YouTube video. They have no family there, no real knowledge of the country, no clear idea of what they want to study. What they do know is that they want to leave Sri Lanka by any means possible as soon as possible. So the call comes in, and the pressure begins.
The consultant spends hours researching, compiling accurate information,
following up, and building a case for why a particular pathway makes sense for
that client. Meanwhile, that same client has walked into four other agencies,
collected the same information from all of them, and then simply gone silent.
No decision, no explanation, no acknowledgement of the work invested. This is
not an occasional frustration; it is a daily reality in Sri Lankan consulting
firms, and it takes a toll that does not appear on any KPI dashboard.
The situation has intensified because the traditional ‘Big Four’ destinations, the UK, Australia, Canada, and the USA, are all simultaneously tightening their rules in 2026. The UK has reduced Graduate Route work rights to 18 months, Canada introduced strict permit caps, Australia raised financial thresholds, and the US expanded vetting requirements significantly (Travel and Tour World, 2026). Clients are hearing fragments of this news and panicking. Consultants are the ones absorbing that panic, often without adequate information or support to respond with confidence.
Applying the Harvard Model, Where HR Policy Is Failing
The Harvard Model of HRM (Beer et al., 1984) provides a clear framework
for diagnosing this crisis. It argues that HR policy choices must respond to
situational factors and balance competing stakeholder interests, and that when
they fail to do so, the long-term consequences fall on employees, the organization,
and the wider community. The table below maps the Asia Pacific Group situation
directly onto the Harvard Model:
|
SITUATIONAL FACTORS |
STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS |
HR POLICY CHOICES |
HR OUTCOMES |
|
Sri
Lanka economic crisis |
Employees:
career stability |
Human
resource flow |
Commitment |
|
Big Four
visa tightening |
Firm:
revenue continuity |
Reward
systems |
Competence |
|
New
market pivot (Germany, UAE) |
Clients:
reliable service |
Employee
influence |
Cost-effectiveness |
Figure 1: Harvard Model of HRM applied to
Asia Pacific Group context. Adapted from Beer et al. (1984), Managing Human
Assets, Free Press.
The core failure sits in the human resource flow dimension: how people
are recruited, developed, and retained. At Asia Pacific Group, we are not
always hiring the right people for roles that carry this level of pressure.
When intake season peaks and the workload intensifies, new staff who were not
fully prepared make the decision to leave rather than push through. They are
not willing to stay late to finish urgent client files, and the work does not
wait. The result is a cycle that costs the firm far more than the original
hiring decision, in time, in training, and in the institutional knowledge that
walks out with each departure.
Research in the Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management confirms that retention in service sector organizations depends less on salary and more on whether employees feel trusted, supported, and able to see a future within the firm (SLJHRM, 2025). When hiring decisions prioritize speed over fit, that foundation never gets built, and early exits become almost inevitable.
Sector sees “natural power shift” as emerging destinations rise - The PIE NewsThe Weight Nobody Talks About, And the Chain Reaction It Causes
When a consultant leaves, the work does not disappear. Files get
reassigned, responsibilities get redistributed across people who are already
stretched, and staff who joined to handle one role suddenly find themselves
multitasking across several. The client feels this immediately; a student who
has been working with one consultant for weeks suddenly finds a new person
handling their file, someone who does not know their history, their concerns,
or the specific details of their application. That confusion erodes confidence.
One negative Google review, whether about a visa refusal or about feeling
passed around between staff, can undo months of reputation building. A
peer-reviewed study in PLOS ONE confirms that the departure of skilled
professionals creates a compounding deficit in service organizations, not just
in headcount, but in institutional knowledge, client continuity, and trust
(Lakshman et al., 2024).
A Critical Evaluation. Is High Turnover Simply the Nature of Consulting?
Some would argue that high turnover is simply the nature of
commission-driven consulting, that firms should build systems resilient to
churn rather than fight it. This is not an unreasonable position. Organizational
theorists such as Pfeffer (1994) have acknowledged that some industries
structurally depend on fluid labor markets and that designing roles around
short tenure can be a legitimate operational model.
But this view misses the compounding cost of accepting short tenure as
normal in a knowledge-intensive, client-facing sector. When a consultant leaves
after six or eight months, the firm has not just lost an employee; it has lost
the training investment, the client relationships built during that period, and
the institutional knowledge that cannot be written into a handover document. We
cannot simply wait for people to leave and rebuild from zero each time. We need
people to believe they can grow with us, build something better, and work as a
team, because every area of the business is affected when they do not. The
remaining team absorbs additional workload during the recruitment and
retraining cycle, often at the precise moment when client files are live, and
visa deadlines cannot move. In an industry where a missed document or delayed
response can derail a student’s entire academic year, treating turnover as an
acceptable operational condition is not a strategy; it is a slow erosion of the
firm’s most valuable asset: its reputation for reliable, expert service. The
Harvard Model makes this explicit: when human resource flow is poorly managed,
the long-term consequences fall not just on the organization but on the clients
and communities it serves (Beer et al., 1984).
So What Needs to Change?
The firms that will lead this industry through the next five years are
not simply the ones with the best university partnerships or fastest processing
times. They will be the ones that get the human resource flow right from the
beginning, hiring for resilience and commitment, not just availability;
investing in structured onboarding that prepares new consultants for the real
pressure of intake seasons before those seasons arrive; and building career
pathways that give people a compelling reason to stay when the work gets hard.
We help hundreds of people build better futures every year. It is time we
asked seriously whether we are doing the same for the people in our own
offices. If your firm is navigating these same challenges right now - the wrong
hires, the overloaded teams, the clients who notice when something is not right
- I would genuinely like to know how you are handling it.
References
Beer, M., Spector, B., Lawrence, P.R., Mills, D.Q. and Walton, R.E. (1984) Managing human assets. New York: Free Press.
British Council (2024) Insights into South Asia: Sri Lanka higher education profile. Available at: https://opportunities-insight.britishcouncil.org/short-articles/reports/insights-south-asia-post-launch-event-summary (Accessed: 03 July 2026).
Darshani, R.K.N.D. and Surangi, H.A.K.N.S. (2025) 'Stability through resilient leadership: a qualitative case study on employee retention in Sri Lankan apparel sector', Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.31357/sljhrm.v15.8508 (Accessed: 03 July 2026).
Kaluarachchi, S. and Jayathilaka, R. (2024) 'Unveiling Sri Lanka's brain drain and labour market pressure: a study of macroeconomic factors on migration', PLOS ONE, 19(3), e0300343. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300343 (Accessed: 04 July 2026).
Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment, Sri Lanka (2023) National policy and action plan on migration for employment 2023–2027. Colombo: Government of Sri Lanka. Available at: https://labourmin.gov.lk (Accessed: 04 July 2026).
Pfeffer, J. (1994) Competitive advantage through people: unleashing the power of the work force. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Study Abroad Updates (2026) May 2026 visa changes: US, UK, Canada & Australia in one video. [Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAvs7zizy9w (Accessed: 04 July 2026).
The PIE News (2025) Sector sees 'natural power shift' as emerging destinations rise. Available at: https://thepienews.com/sector-sees-natural-power-shift-as-emerging-destinations-rise/ (Accessed: 05 July 2026).
Travel and Tour World (2026) UK joins Canada, US, Australia and others in tightening international student visa rules. Available at: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/e9rodv064esv/ (Accessed: 05 July 2026).
It seems good. Please check the the reference SLJHRM, the citation should be the author's name and the reference should be the article, not the journal. Please keep the 350 words in mind.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Professor. I really appreciate you taking the time to review Article 1. Noted on the SLJHRM reference. I will correct the citation to the author's name and update the reference to reflect the specific article title rather than the journal. Will also keep the 350-word limit in mind going forward. Looking forward to your thoughts on the next articles in the series.
DeleteI totally agree with the fact that the students undergo difficulties when their designated consultant changes during their migration process. It is not fair on the student nor their families when their consultant changes. However, on the employees side, if they are unhappy with their working conditions, they are free to change their workplace. Therefore, to retain the employee, I would suggest to increase the pay package with overseas trips as incentive.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I agree that employees are free to leave, and incentives like that can genuinely help in the short term. My concern is that pay and trips reward people after the fact, but if the working conditions themselves haven't changed, the reason someone wanted to leave is still there. The incentive may delay turnover rather than actually prevent it.
DeleteI think this is a really fair and balanced point. You're right that students are the ones who suffer when there's no consistency, but employees also deserve a workplace they're happy in. Your idea about creative incentives like overseas trips could definitely help keep good people around!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Incentives like that work well as recognition, but I did separate recognition from prevention. Trips and bonuses reward people who stayed, but they don't tell us why others left in the first place. Pairing incentives with an honest look at what's actually driving dissatisfaction would likely do more for retention long-term.
DeleteThis is indeed a unique explanation.from my own experience ,in my company also faced a same issue with wrongly hiring. we thought because of that our company will get support for the sales increasing, instead of that we got a so many problem and customer complaints. for this issue management has announced if she continuously do that mistakes her probation period will be increased & salary increment also will be delay, after that only she tried her best and tried to reduce the mistakes. If you see any fault in my comment appreciate your valuable reply.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that; no fault at all, it's a useful real example. It's good that the consequence pushed her to improve, but I did gently push on the earlier step: the mistake traces back to a hiring decision, not just her performance afterward. Addressing what went wrong in the hiring process itself would likely prevent the same situation from happening with the next hire.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your perspective on the employee retention challenges in Sri Lanka's education and migration consulting industry. The real-life examples and application of the Harvard Model made your discussion engaging and easy to relate to. One suggestion would be to include a few practical HR strategies or success stories from organizations that have improved employee retention to make your recommendations even stronger.
ReplyDeleteThank you, that's a good suggestion. Real success stories would make the recommendations feel more actionable than the framework alone, since readers could see what actually worked in practice. I will look into including a few examples in a follow-up piece.
DeleteExcellent analysis! I really like the way you challenged the assumption that high turnover is simply “part of the industry.” Your discussion clearly shows that employee retention is not just an HR issue but a strategic factor that directly affects client satisfaction, organizational performance, and long-term sustainability. I especially liked your emphasis on structured onboarding, career development, and hiring for long-term commitment. Great insights!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I agree those practices matter, though they only hold up if retention is tracked as an ongoing measure, not treated as a one-time policy fix. Onboarding and hiring for commitment tend to fade in priority once the initial urgency passes, so the harder part is keeping them consistent over time.
DeleteExtremely well-articulated analysis, Keerthana! Applying the Harvard Model to Sri Lanka’s migration consulting crisis highlights the severe gaps in traditional human resource flow. However, pushing a slight counter-perspective: fixing recruitment and onboarding alone will not solve this crisis if the core operational workflow remains purely manual. The fundamental friction point is the unbillable hours spent on 'window-shopping' clients who go silent. Instead of expecting consultants to absorb this emotional and administrative strain, firms must leverage AI-driven lead qualification and asynchronous self-service portals. By offloading initial filterings and basic inquiries to technology, consultants can focus exclusively on high-converting, high-value cases. True retention happens when we redesign the operational architecture, not just the HR policy.
ReplyDeleteThank you; that's a strong point. The unbillable hours from unqualified leads are a real and often overlooked driver of burnout here. I did only add one caution: automating the early filtering has to be designed carefully, or consultants just end up handling frustrated escalations from a self-service system instead. Redesigning the workflow is the right move, but the human handoff points still need attention, not just the technology layer.
DeleteGreat insights on the importance of employee retention in this industry. I agree that better HR practices can improve commitment and service quality. However, given the current economic climate and global opportunities, some level of turnover is inevitable, so organizations also need systems that can adapt to staff changes. A balanced and thought provoking read.
ReplyDeleteThank you; that's true, some turnover really is outside an organization's control. I did just want to be careful that "adapting to change" doesn't become a reason to stop addressing the turnover that is preventable. The two need different responses, and treating all turnover as inevitable risks excusing the part that isn't.
DeleteI like the emphasis on the hidden costs of turnover. Beyond recruitment expenses, organisations should also consider the impact on employee morale, organizational reputation and customer satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteThank you; that's exactly why turnover tends to get underestimated; only the recruitment cost is usually visible on a spreadsheet. Morale, reputation, and customer satisfaction rarely get measured the same way, so organizations often don't realize the full cost until it's already done damage.
DeleteInsightful blog highlighting a critical workforce challenge. Retaining skilled employees through supportive leadership and meaningful engagement is essential for sustainable organizational success.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I agree that's the right direction, though "supportive leadership" needs to be practiced consistently, not just named as a value. The gap is usually between saying leadership should be supportive and actually checking whether employees experience it that way day-to-day.
Delete