Jordan now a lucrative job market for Bangladeshi garment workers

Arafat Ara Jordan has emerged as a lucrative job destination for Bangladeshi garment workers after the Middle Eastern country has shown keen interest in hiring workers for their fast growing factories due to cost competitiveness, a key official said. The opportunity for Bangladeshi labour force comes following latest demand of wage-hike made by Indian and Sri Lankan workers, who accounted for a major portion of the workforce that has prompted the Jordanian garment manufacturers to look for alternatives. "Yes, the Jordanian apparel companies are searching for workers from Bangladesh because of its efficient and disciplined labour force as their wage demand is not so high," Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL) managing director Muhammad Abdullah said. Over 3,000 expatriate workers including 1,545 Sri Lankans working in five garment factories in Jordan went on a strike last May demanding an increase in their wages. Indian workers had also joined their hands in the two-week long strike. The BOESL official said the Jordanian garment manufacturers now want to hire Bangladeshi labourers to run their units uninterruptedly to ensure better production. The number of garment factories in Jordan has also been gradually increasing, creating huge opportunities for the dynamic and experienced Bangladeshi workers, Mr Abdullah mentioned. Nearly 3,704 female garment workers found jobs in Jordan in last ten months, until June 2011, through the state-run manpower recruiting agency, according to the BOESL. It also said around 130 female job- seekers have already left the country for Jordan while another 119 workers will go there by this month. Some 2500 more workers are in the process. The BOESL managing director said the job market for the Bangladeshi workers remained shut for a long time following agitations by the community there for pressing home their demand of wage hike. "But now the relation between the two countries has improved after a bilateral meeting held in this regard in 2010," Mr Abdullah said, adding that they have received tremendous interests from the foreign garment makers who want to employ them. He said around 16 Jordanian companies recently sent queries for having the workers after reopening of the job market in September 2010. "The working environment in Jordan for the Bangladeshi garment workers is very friendly." According to him, the Bangladeshi garment workers in the Arab Muslim country get monthly salary amounting to around Tk 15,000 with free accommodation, medical allowance and food allowances. The government has decided to send female workers to Jordan through only BOESL for ensuring their safety and security as Bangladeshi women workers often face various troubles in the Middle East countries. "The government wants to send the women workers with lower migration cost," the official said, adding women can go to Jordan by spending Tk 10,000. According to the statistics of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), around 16,274 female workers went aboard with jobs by June this year. The data show that now nearly 0.15 million female migrant workers are working in different countries of the world, who account for around seven per cent of the total overseas employment.