Stakeholders stress for new destinations: Saudi labour market further shrinks
Reza Mahmud :
Bangladesh’s manpower sector gets another setback as the lone reliable destination Saudi labour market further shrunken as the oil rich country’s latest decision on employing 60 percent local workforce instead of hiring manpower from abroad.
Such a move will hurt the Bangladesh’s manpower exporting sector as the country has become lone dependent on Saudi Arabian employers for long.
Stakeholders including the leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) expressed anxiety on the latest Saudi decision of shrinking manpower hiring from countries like Bangladesh.
When contacted, former BAIRA Joint Secretary General Muhammad Fakhrul Islam on Tuesday told The New Nation, “Such a Saudi move will hit Bangladeshi manpower sector as the country become widely dependent to this middle eastern country’s market.”
The BAIRA leader urged the government to gear-up efforts to expand labour market, opening new destinations and reopening the closed markets like Malaysia, Brunei, Oman, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and such many others.
Sources said, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development of Saudi Arabia has issued a new regulation. Under this regulation, the employment ratio of Saudi nationals in 18 marketing and sales professions has been increased to 60 percent.
The ministry said the measure has been taken with the aim of expanding employment opportunities for Saudi citizens.
According to the first decision, private-sector establishments employing three or more workers must ensure that 60 percent of positions in marketing-related professions are filled by Saudi nationals.
These professions include marketing and advertising managers, advertising representatives, marketing specialists, graphic and advertising designers, public relations professionals, and photographers.
This decision will come into effect three months after its announcement, and a minimum monthly salary of 5,500 Saudi riyals has been set for these positions.
Under the second decision, the ministry has imposed the same 60 percent localization requirement on sales-related professions in the private sector.
These include sales managers, retail and wholesale sales representatives, information technology and communications equipment sales specialists, and commercial specialists. This regulation will also take effect after an additional three-month period.
The ministry stated that these new measures have been introduced to make the labor market more attractive, create high-quality employment opportunities, and ensure job stability for qualified Saudi nationals.
Sources said, Bangladesh has witnessed a significant surge in manpower export to Saudi Arabia over the past several months, with 2025 marking an unprecedented year in labour migration history.
According to official figures from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), more than 750,000 Bangladeshi workers were deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2025, the highest number sent to any single country in a year, representing a 16 % increase from 2024.
Of the estimated 1.07 million Bangladeshis who went abroad for work in 2025, nearly two-thirds chose Saudi Arabia as their destination, underscoring the Kingdom’s dominance in Bangladesh’s overseas labour market.
Officials say growing demand under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 development plans, including major infrastructure and construction projects, has expanded job opportunities in sectors such as construction, hospitality, healthcare and technical trades.
A landmark bilateral employment agreement signed in October 2025 between the governments of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia is expected to further boost opportunities, with projections of up to 300,000 new job openings for Bangladeshis in the coming months.
The pact aims to strengthen worker protections, ensure wage security, enhance welfare services and streamline recruitment processes.
However, migration experts have expressed concerns about Bangladesh’s growing dependence on a single destination market, warning that limited diversification could expose workers to economic and labour risks.
Despite challenges, the surge in Saudi-bound employment has contributed to rising remittance inflows and remains a cornerstone of Bangladesh’s foreign earnings strategy.