Women the world over are increasingly joining the international labour market. As per data of International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2017, women constituted 42 per cent of the 164 million migrant workers globally. "ILOSTAT (ILO Labour Statistics) data show that the share of women in the working-age migrant population increased over the past decade in 24 out of the 63 countries for which time series are available, with particularly significant growth observed in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Indonesia and Viet Nam."In Bangladesh too, an ever-increasing number of women are going abroad with job opportunities but they are going overwhelmingly in the unskilled category as domestic help. A recent programme jointly organised by ILO and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) brought the issue of imparting training to female workers before being sent abroad to better prepare them for the conditions they would face in foreign work environments, and one that would be more sustainable in terms of employment and ensuring their rights.
It is becoming abundantly clear that the demand for higher skilled women is greater in countries with higher incomes. ILO data shows that the percentage of working-age female migrants with an advanced (tertiary and above) level of education jumped between 2009 and 2019 and this has much to do with "global progress in the educational attainment of girls and women." This is particularly true of Bangladesh that has made huge advancements in education for women. Yet the country is only tapping into semi-literate women from rural areas to work in international markets, with no training about either the culture of the foreign lands and no basic language proficiency.
These handicaps go a long way to explain why Bangladeshi female workers face so much harassment and discrimination in foreign labour markets. It is like throwing sheep to slaughter since these hapless women are in no position to either seek redress or perform at par with better skilled, better educated women from other countries in Asia who are joining the same labour markets abroad. There needs to be a growing awareness that in foreign labour markets, the demand for skilled women is opening up in a very big way and it has to do with health and social care as many high-income countries have to contend with bigger segment of aging population. Sadly, Bangladesh is not tapping into these opportunities and these positions are being filled up by other countries in the region.
In the unskilled category too, challenges remain. Women migrant workers from Bangladesh need to be sent abroad in a safe manner. That means issues of proper work permits and working conditions should be settled in government-to-government agreements. Increasing cases of violence against women occurring and women returning home before their terms are finished point to a scenario where the current regime of their going abroad to work is hardly safe and there are questions about the legality of work permits (or lack thereof) in many cases.
Putting aside the issues of legality, it is inconceivable to expect the average female unskilled worker to integrate successfully in any foreign environment unless she has received a proper training into relevant etiquette, basic language skills, hygiene, etc. A benchmark of education qualification for women needs to be fixed for less-skilled overseas job seekers (including domestic aid) so that they are competent for the international market.These issues have been festering for too long and this must come under the aegis of a policy that must be adhered to by private recruiters who send the bulk of female workers abroad.
Properly training women migrant workers
FE Team | Published: December 09, 2023 20:13:59
Properly training women migrant workers
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