As of October 2023, approximately 10.99 lakh Bangladeshi workers have secured overseas jobs, building upon last year’s record of 11.35 lakh jobs.
Bangladesh has achieved a significant milestone in labour migration, surpassing the 1 million mark in labour exports for the second consecutive year.
As of October 2023, approximately 10.99 lakh Bangladeshi workers have secured overseas jobs, building upon last year’s record of 11.35 lakh jobs.
Recruiters have said many workers who could not go abroad for two years due to the pandemic migrated in 2022 and 2023 as the reopening of businesses in the Middle East opened up the job market there.
Besides, increasing the quota for Bangladeshi migrants in all Saudi firms to 40% from 25% has contributed to this record growth.
Saudi Arabia, the top destination for Bangladeshi migrants, generated 37% of all overseas jobs till October this year, followed by Malaysia, Oman, the UAE, Singapore, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan.
The reopening of the Malaysian labour market also contributed to overseas job growth. Malaysia has recruited the second-highest number of workers this year, with over 3.07 lakh workers hired in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, services, plantation, agriculture, mining, and household service domains.
“Most workers in the Middle East have been employed for cleaning, construction jobs and domestic tasks with a monthly salary of Tk25,000-30,000. In addition, some have been hired as security guards and drivers in the UAE with a monthly salary of Tk35,000-40,000,” Abul Bashar, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told The Business Standard.
Besides, some skilled and semi-skilled workers made their entry into different countries as plumbers, electricians or technicians of refrigerators and air conditioners, he added.
Booming manpower exports not reflected on remittances
While the labour export sector has witnessed remarkable growth, remittance inflows remained stagnant for the past two fiscal years, hovering around the $22 billion mark, a significant decline from the peak of $24.77 billion in fiscal 2020-21.
Migration experts attribute the discrepancy in remittance growth to three primary factors: low-skilled occupations, the prevalence of hundi (illegal money transfer channel), and fake jobs offered by foreign employers and recruiters to make financial gain from unskilled workers.
Despite Bangladesh’s efforts to enhance worker skills through technical training centres, the proportion of low-skilled labour migrants continues to rise, reaching 78.64% in 2022, up from 75.24% in the year before, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
The BMET oversees 104 technical training centres across the country, with 64 of them fully operational. These centres offer a variety of courses in numerous disciplines such as computer, business, hotel management, fashion design, e-commerce, medical and technical.
However, the effectiveness of these training programmes in addressing the skill gap and preparing workers for higher-paying overseas jobs remains a pressing concern.
Of the over a million workers sent abroad last year, only 1.20 lakh people got the training under short courses, according to the BMET.
Experts said existing institutions are not sufficient and fully equipped to provide skilled manpower to meet global demand.
BMET Director (Training) Engineer Md Salah Uddin said efforts are underway to increase the number of training centres across the country and improve the courses. The government has a plan to build training centres in every upazila.
Salah Uddin also alleged that recruiting agencies are partly responsible for sending low-skilled labourers overseas.
“We provide training to create skilled workers for various sectors, but our efforts are undermined when recruiting agencies are reluctant to send them abroad.
“The financial incentives for recruiting agencies favour sending unskilled workers over skilled workers,” said the principal of a technical training centre, requesting anonymity.
“Agencies can charge higher fees for unskilled workers, while skilled workers often have their migration costs covered by their employers,” the principal added.
To address this issue, Salah Uddin emphasised the need for stricter regulations that mandate recruiting agencies to send a certain proportion of skilled workers to meet the demands of overseas employers.
However, Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of the Baira denied this allegation.
“It is not true. We are bound by the requirements of our clients, the overseas employers, and cannot deviate from their specifications.
Skill gap matters a lot
There is a substantial skill gap between Bangladeshi migrant workers and those from neighbouring countries like India and the Philippines, data shows.
In contrast to Bangladesh’s rising proportion of low-skilled labour migrants, the Philippines has made significant progress in increasing the share of its overseas workers engaged in higher-skilled occupations.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the percentage of overseas Filipino workers employed in elementary occupations (less skilled) has steadily declined, reaching 44.4% in 2022.
This discrepancy in skill levels is reflected in the remittance sent by Bangladeshi workers.
A Bangladeshi worker remits an average of $203.33 (Tk22,408) per month, significantly lower than the $564.1 sent by Filipino workers, according to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
This remittance gap extends to other regional peers as well. A Pakistani worker sends an average of $275.74 per month, an Indian worker sends $395.71 and a Chinese worker sends an average of $532.71 per month.
Despite boasting a larger diaspora compared to its regional competitor, the Philippines, Bangladesh falls behind in attracting inward remittances.
According to the World Migration Report 2022 by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in 2022, Bangladesh emerged as the world’s sixth largest labour supplier with a workforce of approximately seven million individuals contributing to economies worldwide.
The Philippines closely followed at 9th position, with around six million workers employed across the globe.
The report also highlights the Philippines’ position as the 4th largest recipient of remittances in 2022, while Bangladesh secured 8th place.
Personal remittances in the Philippines soared to an all-time high of US$36.14 billion in 2022, surpassing the US$34.88 billion recorded in 2021 by 3.6%, according to the Filipino Statistics Authority data.
India sent abroad 1.3 million workers in 2022 which is slightly higher than Bangladesh’s 1.1 million. The remittance inflow to India rose by 12% in 2022 compared to 2021 while Bangladesh’s remittance remained stagnant, Indian media reported.
Deception by some employers
Labour experts said many workers are issued fake job letters, some are lured by recruiting agencies and foreign employers to Middle Eastern countries with empty promises of employment. It often leads to an oversupply of workers in employing countries.
At the beginning of this month, Oman suspended issuing all types of new visas to Bangladeshis due to, according to sector insiders, an oversupply of workers from the South Asian nation.
Bangladeshi recruiters told that hundreds of workers have lost their jobs in the past six months in Oman, and many have been defrauded by middlemen and have not received their promised jobs.
Hundi menace
Enhancing remittance inflows has become a critical imperative for Bangladesh as the country grapples with declining foreign exchange reserves and a depreciating taka for the last one and a half years.
But Bangladeshis working abroad continue to send money through informal channels, popularly known as ‘hundi’ because of higher rates and convenience. Even the 2.5% cash incentives on remittance by the government failed to boost the inflow.
Dr Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem), said incentive hikes could only provide a temporary boost to remittance inflows. To achieve sustainable remittance growth, the root causes of hundi need to be dealt with.
