18.5pc fall in overseas jobs during Jan-Sept

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FE Report
A total of 291,904 Bangladeshi nationals obtained overseas employments during January to September period of the year 2010, adding 28,948 in September, the government data revealed.
Overseas employment for Bangladeshi job seekers during January-September period of the year has further declined by 18.5 per cent against the corresponding period of 2009, according to the data.
The nine months' compiled employment numbers were down by 57.6 and 50.7 per cent from 2008 and 2007 respectively, according to the data from the state-run Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
A total of 358,171, 688,574 and 591,607 Bangladeshi male and female workers secured employments during the January-September periods in the years 2009, 2008 and 2007 respectively, the statistics revealed.
"In the post-recession global economic scenario, we are losing our traditional employment markets like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Malaysia to our competitors," Senior Vice-President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Reaz-Ul-Islam explained while talking to the FE.
Besides, employments to the country's last existing overseas destination - United Arab Emirates (UAE) - that has employed more than half of our total out-bound manpower, are falling drastically, he added.
Adding 14,666 workers in September 2010, the oil-rich UAE has employed a total of 153,600 Bangladeshi workers in the last nine months. It was 52.6 per cent of the country's total overseas employment during the period.
According to BMET overseas employment statistics for September 2010, Bangladesh's once largest employer - KSA - employed only 319 workers while 4,088 found jobs in Oman, 1,822 in Bahrain, 1,547 in Lebanon, 936 in Qatar and 154 in Jordan.
Malaysia, which played the most significant role in growth of the manpower exporting industry in Bangladesh, has employed only 117 workers.
Singapore however maintained its steady recruitment of Bangladeshi nationals, employing a total of 3,358 workers in September of this year.