The country’s manpower exports have fallen by more than 24 per cent in the first two months of this calendar year compared to the same period in 2023, due mainly to Malaysia — the country’s second-biggest recruiter — halting the hiring of new Bangladeshi workers.
Bangladesh sent 162,158 workers abroad for employment in various countries during the January-February period of this year, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) data shows.
Of these, 87,152 left Dhaka in January and 74,306 in February.
In contrast, the country sent 213,572 workers to different countries in the January-February period of 2023.
The breakdown for that year was 104,513 workers in January and 109,059 in February.
Malaysia, currently the second-largest market for Bangladeshi workers, stopped approving new worker requests in mid-March 2023 after fulfilling its job quota.
Previously, the Southeast Asian country hired around 30,000 Bangladeshi workers per month in 2023. However, the total number hired in the first two months of 2024 is only 20,000.
Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said that due to the opening of the Malaysian market, Bangladesh had set a record in sending workers abroad in the past two years.
The slowdown in Malaysian recruitment is likely to lead to a decrease in the total number of overseas employment opportunities for Bangladeshis this year, he added.
Mr Haider suggested promoting the Bangladeshi workforce in markets with high worker demand, including the European countries. Besides, he emphasised developing a skilled workforce that meets the specific demands of the international job market.
In December 2021, Malaysia, a vital market for Bangladeshi workers, signed a new agreement with Bangladesh to hire workers for various sectors. They resumed hiring workers in mid-2022.
According to the Bangladeshi embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was expected to hire 500,000 Bangladeshi workers over five years after the market opened.
Industry insiders report that over 400,000 workers have already left Bangladesh for Malaysian jobs.
Another major market, Oman, has also halted labour recruitment from Bangladesh since October 2023, further impacting the country’s overall overseas employment opportunities.
BMET data shows that while a small number of workers went to Oman in the initial months, none departed Bangladesh in February. This means existing recruitment agency demands have now been fulfilled.
Bangladesh achieved a record high by sending over 1.3 million workers abroad in 2023, following 1.1 million in 2022.
As in previous years, a large chunk of the outbound workers flew for Middle Eastern nations. Saudi Arabia received the highest number, with 93,345 workers, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 18,042 and Qatar with 6,779.
