Labour mkt slump puts manpower sector at risk
Reza Mahmud :
Country’s most important foreign currency earning manpower exporting sector in peril as most of the large destinations are closed and searching the new labour markets also stalled, stakeholders said.
Leaders from the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said couontry’s aspirant migratory workers become sole dependent on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as doors of most of the other large markets are suspended for long.
When contacted Ali Haider Chowdhury, former Secretary General, BAIRA and Director, East West Human Resource Center Ltd. told The New Nation, “The progress of searching new labour markets for our aspirant workers are now nearly stalled.
The government should take strong initiatives to open European countries embassies in Dhaka for cop the opportunities of sending our skilled manpower to the continent.”
The BAIRA leader also asked the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment for focusing the other potential manpower destinations like Africa and America.
When contacted, Mohammad Fakhrul Islam, former Joint-Secretary General-1 of BAIRA told The New Nation, “The government has to take speedy actions for reopening the Bangladesh’s most imperative Malaysian labour market.”
He said Malaysia is the huge potential destination for Bangladeshi manpower but remaining closed for long.
Stakeholders including the recruiting agencies leaders said many potential overseas job markets including Europe, America, Africa and Central Asian countries remaining untapped due to diplomatic inactions.
Even many doors in traditional Middle Eastern countries markets are also suspended for the very same reasons which lead the important manpower exporting sector in peril.
Sources said, in January this year a total of 97,867 Bangladeshi workers went abroad. The number was in February 62,436, 1,5035 in March, 49, 983 in April and 1,5400 in May this year.
A total of 4, 20,721 migrant workers were went abroad so far in this year.
Data from the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) showed that the manpower exporting sector totally relies on the market of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for long.
Among the above mentioned manpower exporting data the lion’s share has taken by Saudi Arabia alone by employing 3,00004 Bangladeshi manpower in the four months, while the rest 120,717 workers went to the others destinations in the same period.
Employing 40,308 workers, Qatar dominated the second largest manpower destination.
Stakeholders said, the authorities failed to cop the opportunities of new manpower exporting destinations.
They said there are huge prospects of exploring new labour markets for Bangladeshis in Europe, America, Africa, South-East and Central Asian countries.
Manpower exporters and aspirant migrant workers said they have not found any sufficient measures from the expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry in the past several years for creating new manpower exporting markets.
Besides, during fallen fascist Hasina era, most of the ministers of the ministry found nexus with the dishonest circle over forming syndicate in Malaysian labour market several times.
The syndicate harms the major labor market of seriously as a result the door is closed for long while thousands of Bangladeshi workers are waiting for opening the Malaysia labour market.
In comparison, a total, 4,07,237 manpower were exported in the same period in the previous year.
In January of 2024, a total of 87,852 Bangladeshi migrant workers went abroad for employment. Besides, 74,306 workers went to different destinations in February, 74,679 in the March in 2024.