Accountants lead skilled overseas jobs in Jan-Jun

Infographic: TBS

For the first time, accounting has made it into the top 10 jobs for Bangladeshi migrants, with nearly 13,000 accountants travelling abroad between January and June.

This trend signifies a growing demand for skilled workers from Bangladesh, according to the half-yearly report from Ami Probashi, a Bangladeshi digital platform designed to promote transparent migration.

But less-skilled industrial jobs, such as general labour, construction workers, factory workers, and cleaners, continue to dominate the migration flow from Bangladesh to the Middle East and Malaysia, according to the report prepared based on data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

"Both Qatar and the UAE have welcomed accountants the most. This signals these nations' increasing trust in Bangladesh to provide a steady supply of skilled workers over time," reads the report.

Mahmudul Hasan Khusru, FCA, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, told The Business Standard, "The potential for accountants extends beyond the Middle East to Western countries as well. In particular, many accountants we know have secured jobs in the US over the past six months."

But to qualify for these positions, they need to develop relevant training and software skills in addition to holding a degree in accounting, he suggested.

Ami Probashi's report also highlights the categories of work for which most of these migrants are seeking employment. Almost 30% of migrant workers fall into the "general" skill category, which includes a mix of semi-skilled and less-skilled (commonly referred to as unskilled) jobs.

Construction work ranks second, with 63,469 migrants, while factory work rounds out the top three with 33,748 migrants. The report also states that 10.4% of the total migrants are classified as skilled, with 3.2% of them working as professionals in industry-specific roles such as software developers.

The first half of 2024 alone witnessed a robust migration, with over five lakh workers flying abroad for employment. About 250,000 of the workers chose Saudi Arabia as their preferred destination between January and June.

Saudi Arabia has welcomed the most general workers, with 118,761 migrants arriving in the country during this period.

In Malaysia, construction work was the most preferred job, with an intake of 43,791 construction workers. Qatar rounds out the top three destinations, with 39,517 migrants arriving in the country during the same timeframe.

Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, a migration expert and faculty member at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at North South University, told TBS, "We are still stuck in 3-D (Dirty, Dangerous, and Demeaning) jobs. The first step is to make information available about skilled jobs and to inform young people how to access them, so they can adequately prepare themselves."

Emphasising the need to modernise technical training centres, he said, "We should take the initiative to upgrade the TTCs in partnership with Western countries where there is a demand for skilled workers. They will then develop the curriculum based on their needs and produce qualified individuals to fill those positions."

Bangladesh sent a record 13 lakh workers last year, with a surge in non-traditional destinations fuelling a 22% increase in semi-skilled migration. But less-skilled workers constituted 50% of total foreign jobs, while skilled migration accounted for around 25%, according to the BMET.

The predominant skilled categories included drivers, caregivers, domestic staff, hospitality personnel, electricians, quality control supervisors, refrigeration and air conditioning technicians, plumbing and pipefitting professionals, and general electrical workers, according to labour recruiters.

The country also sent 50,158 professionals last year, including doctors, nurses, engineers, and IT specialists, compared to 3,640 the previous year.

Despite the rising number of migrant workers each year, women's participation in this workforce remains marginal, making up only 6% of the total workforce in the last six-month period. 

From January to June, migration trends across various divisions revealed that Dhaka led with 121,520 migrant workers, followed by Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rangpur.

The report stated that during this timeframe, 183,274 individual visa types were issued.

Group visa types accounted for 28,223, while 24,638 visas were self-acquired. The number of self-acquired or one-stop visas has dramatically risen, especially compared to previous months when the numbers were much lower and often accounted for less than 1% of total visas processed.

Ami Probashi is a government-approved mobile app and web portal that assists aspiring Bangladeshi migrants in gaining employment abroad by engaging all stakeholders.