August manpower export down by 29.75pc
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Mashiur Rahaman
Overseas jobs for the country's unskilled and semi-skilled workers plunged by 29.75 per cent in August as the top job markets abroad continued to face the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, officials said Tuesday.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said about 38,434 people found jobs abroad in August this year, down from 54,708 of the corresponding period of 2008.
In the first eight months of this year 327,359 people got jobs abroad, down by more than 38 per cent from that of the corresponding period of last year, the BMET statistics said.
In the first eight months of 2008, a total of 530,604 Bangladeshis got jobs abroad as recruitments in the UAE, Malaysia and Singapore went up to a large extent.
BMET officials attributed the slide in August's manpower export to the 'massive fall' in demand in the job markets of major oil producing countries in the Middle East and export-oriented economies in South East Asia.
Any fresh recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in these countries remained almost stopped last month as the nations were still striving to come out of the recession aftermath, a senior BMET official said speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This is an odd situation for us that is likely to continue few more months," he added.
Officials said new job markets including Libya and other traditional destinations like the UAE, Singapore and Oman showed a good gesture last month.
"We are currently at the bottom, but the good news is that it has started to bottom out,' the official said expressing his optimism.
Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain earlier said the government was also looking for ways of manpower export to some African countries now undergoing construction boom and some Eastern European nations.
However, Finance Minister AMA Muhith after an inter-ministerial meeting on manpower export recently announced Bangladesh's plan to open seven more missions in Europe and Africa as per government's emphasis on exploration of new job markets for Bangladeshis.
New diplomatic missions in Mauritius, Sudan, Botswana, Romania, Lebanon, Angola and Greece would widen employment opportunities for the Bangladeshi workers, the BMET officer said.
At present 6.5 million Bangladeshis are working abroad while presently the country has 47 missions abroad with 19 commercial wings functioning.
Overseas jobs for the country's unskilled and semi-skilled workers plunged by 29.75 per cent in August as the top job markets abroad continued to face the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, officials said Tuesday.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said about 38,434 people found jobs abroad in August this year, down from 54,708 of the corresponding period of 2008.
In the first eight months of this year 327,359 people got jobs abroad, down by more than 38 per cent from that of the corresponding period of last year, the BMET statistics said.
In the first eight months of 2008, a total of 530,604 Bangladeshis got jobs abroad as recruitments in the UAE, Malaysia and Singapore went up to a large extent.
BMET officials attributed the slide in August's manpower export to the 'massive fall' in demand in the job markets of major oil producing countries in the Middle East and export-oriented economies in South East Asia.
Any fresh recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in these countries remained almost stopped last month as the nations were still striving to come out of the recession aftermath, a senior BMET official said speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This is an odd situation for us that is likely to continue few more months," he added.
Officials said new job markets including Libya and other traditional destinations like the UAE, Singapore and Oman showed a good gesture last month.
"We are currently at the bottom, but the good news is that it has started to bottom out,' the official said expressing his optimism.
Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain earlier said the government was also looking for ways of manpower export to some African countries now undergoing construction boom and some Eastern European nations.
However, Finance Minister AMA Muhith after an inter-ministerial meeting on manpower export recently announced Bangladesh's plan to open seven more missions in Europe and Africa as per government's emphasis on exploration of new job markets for Bangladeshis.
New diplomatic missions in Mauritius, Sudan, Botswana, Romania, Lebanon, Angola and Greece would widen employment opportunities for the Bangladeshi workers, the BMET officer said.
At present 6.5 million Bangladeshis are working abroad while presently the country has 47 missions abroad with 19 commercial wings functioning.