Labour exports slightly improves after three-month decline

Labour migration has ended a three-month downturn, with a slight increase of 0.50% registered in March compared to February – sending a positive vibe to Bangladesh, which heavily relies on remittances for foreign exchange earnings.

However, the country saw a 32% year-on-year decrease in labour migration in March, with 74,679 workers flying abroad for overseas employment, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Despite the positive outlook in the coming months in Saudi Arabia, a major destination, low payment has become an issue for the Bangladesh side before sending workers, as per demand, according to labour recruiters.

The government is also cautious about sending workers amid allegations of joblessness in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and some other destinations. Bangladesh sent more than 1 lakh workers for seven consecutive months from May to November last year.

However, the flow has declined to 90,000 to 70,000 in recent months, driven by a decrease in employment opportunities in Malaysia and Oman.

"Those who had quotas in Malaysia are almost at the last stage. Starting in May, labour migration to the country will remain halted for the time being. Therefore, the number of migrations may decrease a little in the coming days," Abul Bashar, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told The Business Standard.

Expressing satisfaction at the good demand for workers in Saudi Arabia, he said, "Our government and we, however, are not satisfied with the salary offered to workers now. Our prime minister has instructed us not to send workers with low wages. We are negotiating with the Saudi authorities to increase their pay."

"The current flow will continue for the next two months. However, if they are not positive about the salary, then we may not send workers according to their demand," he added.

All in all, there is a good demand for low-skilled workers in the oil-rich nation in the coming days, as always, he said.

Bangladeshi workers – primarily consisting of construction workers, cleaners, and housemaids – typically receive salaries ranging from Tk28,000 to Tk30,000 in Saudi Arabia.

However, Malaysia, which has emerged as the second-highest destination for Bangladeshi workers in recent months, offers a minimum wage of Tk35,000 per month.

Bangladesh has now demanded a similar minimum salary range in Saudi Arabia, which employed 42,090, or 56.4%, workers from the South Asian nation last month.

Though demand for low-skilled jobs is expected to continue in the coming months in Saudi Arabia, the current flow of recruitment in Malaysia will cease in May with the expiration of the existing quota.

Malaysia has been employing over 22,000 workers each month in recent months. However, the Southeast Asian country only employed 6,115 workers in February and 6,383 in March.

Since the reopening of the Malaysian labour market in December 2021, 4.32 lakh people have already left Bangladesh, and another 50,000 to 60,000 are expected to leave soon.

Additionally, Oman has suspended issuing visas for most Bangladeshis since last November amid allegations of an oversupply of workers, resulting in a drastic decline in hiring migrants from Bangladesh.

The Gulf country had been recruiting around 10,000 Bangladeshi workers every month since last year, but no workers were employed in the last two months.

After Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, the UAE, Singapore, the Maldives, Kuwait, and Jordan were the top destinations in February.

Meanwhile, after two consecutive months of an upward trend, the flow of inward remittances dipped below the $2 billion mark in March amid the weakening of the dollar against the taka.

Bankers say the depreciation of the dollar discourages expatriates from utilising the banking channel to send their hard-earned money back home.

Data from the Bangladesh Bank show expatriate Bangladeshis sent home $1.99 billion last month, down from $2.16 billion in February and $2.11 billion in January.

"Due to several job-related issues, the government is prioritising high-quality migration. This has led to stricter regulations on sending people abroad, resulting in a lower overall staff turnover rate," said Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of Baira.

He further said the large labour market in Malaysia has also been affected by these regulations.

However, the recent figures are still significant, as Bangladesh usually sent 60,000–70,000 workers abroad in the pre-Covid period.

Labour recruiters said workers who were unable to migrate in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic have done so in subsequent years, which has led to a boost in migration.