Highly Educated Bangladeshis Choose Blue-Collar Jobs Abroad

In July 2024, Brunei began recruiting Bangladeshi workers under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement, hiring 25 workers for construction, services, and hospitality. The MOU for this agreement was signed in October 2022 during a visit by Brunei's Sultan to Bangladesh. Under the deal, Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) is responsible for worker recruitment, with private recruiters excluded. BOESL's contract with recruitment companies started in February, receiving 400 job requests from 100 employers.

In August, Bangladesh witnessed a significant drop in labor exports, with only 50,426 workers sent abroad, marking a 29% decrease from July and a 63% year-on-year decline. This sharp reduction, the lowest in 35 months, is primarily attributed to political unrest following widespread student protests, which culminated in the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5.

Bangladesh has witnessed a sharp decline in labor exports due to recent political turmoil and the suspension of visa services at the Indian and Saudi embassies, as well as the closure of the Malaysian labor market earlier this year. In August, the country sent only 50,426 workers abroad, the lowest in the past 11 months—a 29% decrease from the previous month and a staggering 63% year-on-year drop, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Book sales in Bangladesh have dropped by about 50% over the past two months due to recent socio-political unrest, including student-led protests. Contributing factors include rising inflation, reduced purchasing power, the closure of educational institutions, and flooding.

In July, Bangladesh's labor exports increased by about 30% to 71,441 people, but this was still the second lowest total in the previous 33 months. This expansion proceeded despite continuous anti-discrimination turmoil, with the full impact of these difficulties expected to become obvious in the next two months due to the migration process's normally lengthy duration.

Labour recruiters in Bangladesh anticipate the full impact of recent nationwide unrest, including the quota-reform protests, on foreign job placements to emerge in the coming months, as the migration process takes time. In July, foreign job placements dropped by over 43% year-on-year, largely due to Malaysia's suspension of foreign labour entry. Saudi Arabia remains the largest market, but concerns are rising that the annual target of sending over 1 million workers may not be met if the Malaysian market doesn't reopen soon. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's remittance inflow fell to a 10-month low of $1.90 billion in July, partly due to an internet blackout during the protests, affecting expatriates' ability to send money home.