Labour exports tumble to 9-month low in Jan

Bangladesh's labour exports tumbled to a nine-month low in January, driven by decreases in employment opportunities in Malaysia and Oman.

The South Asian economy, which heavily relies on remittance income, sent 87,852 workers in the first month of 2024, marking a 16% year-on-year decrease and an 8% month-on-month decrease, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Despite the decline in labour migration, however, Bangladesh received $2.10 billion in remittances in January, marking a 7.69% year-on-year increase and the highest monthly inflow in the past seven months.

Malaysia has employed more than 22,000 workers each month recently, but the Southeast Asian country has employed only 14,352 workers in the last month.

Besides, Oman has suspended issuing visas for most Bangladeshis since last November amid the allegation of an oversupply of workers, which resulted in a drastic fall in hiring migrants from Bangladesh.

Typically, the Gulf country recruited around 10,000 Bangladeshi workers a month last year, but only 302 workers were employed last month.

"The approval of workers was done cautiously as the formation of the new government was underway, and various complaints had been made in the destination country," Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told The Business Standard. "Hopefully, it will increase in the coming months."

He, however, said, "We are not receiving the same level of demand this year as we did at this time last year. On the other hand, our government is prioritising the quality of workers over numbers. It is expected to have an impact in the days to come."

However, the figure is still considered significant as Bangladesh usually sent 60,000-70,000 workers abroad in the pre-Covid period.

Labour recruiters acknowledge that workers who were unable to migrate in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic have done so in subsequent years, which has boosted a huge jump in migration.

Traditionally, Saudi Arabia stands as the top destination for Bangladeshi workers, and January was no exception, with the country hiring 49,262 workers.

Although the majority of these recruits were low-skilled construction workers, cleaners, and housemaids, the Gulf nation plans to hire more health workers from Bangladesh in the coming months.

"For a long time, Saudi Arabia didn't recruit any medical staff from Bangladesh. But now we started recruiting them as part of an agreement signed with Bangladesh in 2022, because they already meet our criteria," Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Al-Duhailan told Arab News recently.

The oil-rich nation has asked Bangladesh to send over 150 trained nurses.

According to data from the Bangladesh Medical Association, there are only a few dozen clinicians among nearly 30 lakh Bangladeshi expatriate workers residing in the Kingdom.

Under the 2022 agreement on the recruitment of medics, the first Bangladeshi health workers departed for the Kingdom in November 2023.

After Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, the UAE, Singapore, Kuwait, and Qatar were the top destinations in January.

Malaysia, having reopened its labour market after a four-year pause, emerged as the second-largest employer of Bangladeshi workers internationally, just behind Saudi Arabia.

However, a concerning downside persists as numerous workers, predominantly in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Oman, face challenges in securing employment due to fake job offers in recent months.

Malaysia-bound workers are paying 4.5 lakh to 5.00 lakh, despite the expatriate welfare ministry fixing the rate at Tk79,000.

Quality labour migration has not been ensured yet, though Bangladesh sent a record 13 lakh workers abroad last year, says the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU) on 31 January during the publication of its annual labour migration report. 

The high turnout of unskilled employment, high migration costs, joblessness of workers in their destination, wage theft, and remittance through hundi have been raised as the major challenges of the whole migration process, as per the observation of the RMMRU.