Readying females for overseas jobs

It is indeed a good news for the nation. At least for those who want to take up jobs abroad in a bid to change their lot. Since labour market in Saudi Arabia has been reopened recently for Bangladeshi job seekers, a favourable environment for job seekers is now created. The scope of women to go abroad has also been increased significantly. The Saudi government has already hinted its need for recruiting domestic workers at a rate of about 10,000 per month. In that case opportunity for women getting jobs in different domestic trades is high. The government has already started the process of selecting women first to send to that country. Observers, however, see wider scope of sending Bangladeshi women workers in other Middle East countries with the opening up of the Saudi job market.  
The country's overseas job market for women was opened in 2004 in limited scale. Since then, the number of women migrant workers has been increasing at a satisfactory rate. They have got jobs as house keepers, cooks, caregivers, cleaners etc.  The statistics recorded by the Bureau of Manpower Export and Training (BMET) is, however, unable to provide the data of returnee women workers. It is hard to know the duration of stay abroad by the female workers. Besides, there is no separate data regarding remittance being sent by women workers. The impact, economic or otherwise, of sending illiterate women abroad on families is still not known.
Since 1991 to until February this year, official record shows 366,031 female workers went abroad in search of jobs. It began with nominal number of over 2000 and reached the highest number -- 76,007 -- in 2014.
Of the total, 23,214 female workers went to the United Arab Emirates followed by 20,134 to Jordan. Some 11,990 females got job in Lebanon and 11,584 in Oman.
During the two decades, number of women migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest recipient of Bangladeshi migrant workers, did not cross 8000. Last year it recruited only 13 female workers.
Even in such a situation, officials believe that if the number of female workers increases in Saudi Arabia it might have an influence on other countries.
Though there is no data relating to the returnees and incidents of abuse by employers, media reports and records kept by non-government organizations show that the number would not be that few. The government has fixed migration cost for female workers. But it could not be followed strictly due to the influence of the middle men. Because of low literacy rate and training, these women often face abuse and exploitation by employers and come back home without a penny.
The BMET provides a compulsory briefing to the female workers prior to their departure. Women are also required to have a 21-day compulsory training from the Technical Training Centres (TTCs) to carry housekeeping activities. Many recruiting countries have meanwhile set a demand of six week residential training for women to accommodate them with the job required.
It is found that migration of female professionals to total overseas employment remain unchanged, below 2.0 per cent. Study shows that percentage of limited skilled women was only 8.19 per cent in 2014 and semi skilled 7.92 per cent. The percentage of professional females was within 0.01 per cent in 2014 and skilled 1.72 per cent.
The government has already taken measures for the skill development of workers. They have the target to send only skilled workers from the country in the future. But there is no particular programme to develop the skill of women.
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