Over 0.1 million Bangladeshi workers found jobs in different destination countries in the first month of the current calendar year (2023).
The number is the fourth highest in the past 13 months, showed data revealed by the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).
Bangladesh sent 104,513 workers to different countries in January 2023.
Before this January, highest 109,148 workers went abroad in January, 120,319 in March and 112,172 in June in 2022.
The increased outflow of workers happened mainly because of hiring by some Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia recruited highest 42,697 workers in January, followed by Malaysia 24,994 and Oman 17,694.
Outflow of workers has witnessed a remarkable rise in recent years after the shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Bangladesh sent more than 1.1 million workers abroad in 2022, officials said, expecting the number to increase further in 2023.
Md Shahidul Alam, director general (DG) of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), has expected overseas employment to grow by 20 per cent in 2023.
He said they are working to increase sending skilled workers overseas and that is why they have signed agreements with different countries including Greece and held talks with the countries like Albania, Malta and Bosnia.
He also said Saudi Arabia has made skill certification mandatory for foreign workers in different sectors, including plumber, welding, automobile, electrician and AC mechanic.
A pilot project has been undertaken to send skilled manpower from Bangladesh to those sectors.
Malaysian employers are gradually increasing recruitment from Bangladesh while job opportunities are also opening up increasingly in different regions, officials closed to the development said.
Therefore, Bangladesh will be able to send more workers abroad in the next year, they added.
