There is a declining trend in overseas employment of Bangladeshi workers, as only 27,949 persons landed jobs abroad in August, the lowest in a month this year. In the first eight months of this year, the number of overseas employment declined by 0.213 million, compared to the same period last year. A total of 0.273 million workers went abroad till August this year against 0.486 million during the same period last year.
Workers' recruitment from Bangladesh to the Middle Eastern countries has not only decreased but also many workes have come back after the beginning of the Arab Spring. Another reason of the decline in the number of Bangladeshis going abroad for work is economic downturns in different parts of the world. Bangladesh, since then, tried to find out labour markets elswhere including, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea.
It is heartening that South Korea has pledged to boost hiring of Bangladeshi workers under its Employment Permit System (EPS). Seoul had cropped recruitment of Bangladeshi workers drastically for this year, citing a sharp increase in the number of illegal migrant workers. Now, it wants to recruit more Bangladeshi workers. Seoul has an agreement with Dhaka on recruitment of workers from Bangladesh under a government-to-government process. Seoul has placed a demand for 800 Bangladeshi workers this year compared with the quota of 3,000 set for the year 2012. Bangladesh exported a total of 9,363 workers to South Korea through the G2G system from 2008 to August, 2013. The Bangladeshi candidates are doing well in the skill tests. As a result, their chances of recruitment will go up this year.
Bangladeshi workers earned the minimum wage which is same as the South Korean workers. The new recrutied workers will be given four social and health insurances to secure their working period. A worker can easily return to his or her previous job after enjoying leave without facing any test. Again, a foreign worker can stay in South Korea primarily for four years with provision for renewal.
The opportunity for Bangladeshi labourers has also increased following demand of wage-hike by key manpower exporters like India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia and the Philippines, who accounted for a significant portion of the workforce.
Now, Bangladesh missions abroad need to be more proactive in looking for markets for manpower export in the old and new destinations. The missions should devote greater time and energy to look after the interests of overseas Bangladeshi workers so that the labourers can get their contracted or pledged remunerations and other monetary benefits from the foreign employers. Export of skilled manpower including workers and professionals can lead to higher earnings and hence higher remittance flows because their wages would be substantially greater than those of the unskilled workers.
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