Accountants get qualified work abroad in January-June

Less skilled manufacturing jobs continue to dominate

For the first time, accounting has emerged as one of the top 10 professions for Bangladeshi migrants, with nearly 13,000 accountants moving abroad between January and June.

This trend means growing demand for skilled workers from Bangladesh, according to the semi-annual report of Ami Probashi, a Bangladeshi digital platform created to promote transparent migration.

But less-skilled industrial jobs such as laborers, construction workers, factory workers and cleaners continue to dominate migration flows from Bangladesh to the Middle East and Malaysia, according to a report based on data from the Bureau of Manpower. Employment and Training (BMET).

“Both Qatar and the UAE welcomed accountants the most. This demonstrates the growing confidence of these countries in Bangladesh to provide a stable supply of skilled labor over time,” the report said.

Mahmudul Hasan Khusru, FCA, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, told The Business Standard: “The potential of accountants extends beyond the Middle East and into Western countries. In particular, many accountants we know have found work in the US in the last six months.”

But to qualify for these positions, they need to have the appropriate training and software skills in addition to earning an accounting degree, he suggested.

Ami Probashi’s report also highlights the categories of work for which most of these migrants are seeking employment. Almost 30% of migrant workers fall into the “general” skills category, which includes both semi-skilled and less-skilled (commonly called unskilled) jobs.

Construction work ranks second with 63,469 migrants, and factory work rounds out the top three with 33,748 migrants. The report also states that 10.4% of the total migrants are classified as skilled, with 3.2% of them working as professionals in specific industry roles such as software developers.

In the first half of 2024 alone, there was active migration: more than five thousand workers went abroad in search of work. Some 250,000 workers chose Saudi Arabia as their preferred destination between January and June.

Saudi Arabia welcomed the majority of workers, with 118,761 migrants entering the country during this period.

In Malaysia, the most preferred occupation was construction work, with 43,791 construction workers employed. Qatar closes the top three: 39,517 migrants arrived in the country during the same period.

Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, a migration expert and lecturer at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at North South University, told TBS: “We are still stuck in the three-dimensional (dirty, dangerous and humiliating) work. The first step is to make information available about skilled jobs and inform young people how to access them so they can be adequately prepared.”

Stressing the need to modernize technical training centres, he said: “We must take the lead in modernizing the TTC in partnership with Western countries where there is a demand for skilled workers. They will then develop a curriculum based on their needs and produce qualified professionals.” fill these positions.”

Bangladesh sent a record 13,000 workers last year, with a surge in non-traditional destinations leading to a 22% increase in semi-skilled migration. However, according to BMET, less skilled workers account for 50% of total overseas employment, while skilled migration accounts for around 25%.

According to recruiters, the predominant skilled categories included drivers, caregivers, housekeeping staff, hospitality staff, electricians, quality control supervisors, refrigeration and air conditioning technicians, plumbing and piping technicians, and general electrical installers.

The country also sent 50,158 professionals last year, including doctors, nurses, engineers and IT specialists, up from 3,640 the previous year.

Despite the increase in the number of migrant workers every year, women’s participation in the labor force remains low, accounting for only 6% of the total workforce in the last six months.

From January to June, migration trends across divisions showed Dhaka leading with 121,520 migrant workers, followed by Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rangpur.

The report states that 183,274 individual types of visas were issued during this period.

Group visas accounted for 28,223, while 24,638 visas were obtained independently. The number of self-purchased or single-entry visas has increased sharply, especially compared to previous months when the number was much lower and often represented less than 1% of the total number of visas processed.

Ami Probashi is a government approved mobile application and web portal that helps aspiring Bangladeshi migrants get jobs abroad by involving all stakeholders.