The Covid-19 pandemic has left its effects on overseas jobs, and the inflow of remittance earning for Bangladesh. It is quite a disquieting news that Bangladeshi expatriates sent home around US$1.29 billion only in remittances in March 2020 - the lowest in the past 15 months.
It is evident that Bangladesh has started feeling the bite of global shutdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. The incoming remittance from expatriates is one of the main pillars of the Bangladesh economy. But the Covid-19 pandemic has set to deal a heavy blow to the country's overseas job market and the amount of remittance inflow. By now a large number of Bangladeshi migrants have lost their jobs or received low wages or no pay, which caused low remittance income.
Besides, numerous Bangladeshi workers who came home on leave and those who were waiting to fly after getting work visas could not join work abroad. This is because in the meanwhile the destination countries have imposed shutdown or travel ban. This caused a significant plunge in remittance inflow in a few months.
The bulk of the remittances come from the Bangladeshis who work in the Gulf and Southeast Asian countries and the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom. To stem the Covid-19 transmission all these affected countries have also enforced lockdown.
Moreover, the countries that usually receive foreign workers had cut their development expenditures. Those countries have instead allocated a big portion of their budget for the recovery of their economy. So, the development activities in those countries will go dull and downhill.
This means demand for foreign workers will drop in those countries - so will be the demand for Bangladeshi workers. As a result, economic analysts are of the view that given the looming economic recession, the Bangladesh economy may be under serious pressure.
According to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) statistics, around 60,000 Bangladeshis go abroad every month with jobs. So the queues of those waiting to join overseas jobs will only grow, if the Covid-19 pandemic lingers.
However, economists and migration researchers think that the immediate need of the hour is to provide short-term financial protection and healthcare to the migrant workers. Concerned authorities should take up mid-term and long-term plan afterwards on ensuring their jobs abroad. The developed countries will now focus more on improving their healthcare system. This will cause them need more workforces.
As part of our migration strategy, Bangladesh should now focus on the skills training on nursing, health technology, management, medicine and hospitality. This may heal the wound that will inflict on the loss in the scope for exporting traditional development workforces in those countries.
Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled is a retired Professor of Economics and Vice Principal at Cumilla Women's Government College, Cumilla.