State-owned manpower exporter’s profit surges over 100%

The Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), the sole state-owned labour exporting company, achieved a landmark profit of Tk43.17 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23, more than doubling (114%) its profit from the previous fiscal year.

In FY23, the company's revenue soared to Tk69.63 crore, marking a remarkable 128% growth driven primarily by a record deployment of workers to South Korea, according to the BOESL Sources.

South Korea is a key destination market for BOESL, with approximately 6,749 workers deployed in the last fiscal year. Each migrant worker had to pay BOESL Tk34,000 as a service fee.

However, despite its substantial profit growth, BOESL's labour export performance remains significantly behind that of private recruiters. BOESL sent only 15,294 workers, accounting for a mere 1.3% of the altogether 11.37 lakh workers sent abroad in FY23, according to BOESL data.

Despite consistently charging among the lowest fees for overseas employment services, BOESL has played a relatively minor role in Bangladesh's labour migration landscape. 

Since its inception in 1984, BOESL has facilitated the overseas employment of only 1.45 lakh workers, while private agencies have sent around 1.5 crore workers abroad during the same period.

ABM Abdul Halim, general manager of BOESL, told TBS, "Our primary focus is on placing skilled and semi-skilled workers. Therefore, the approach of private agencies, which emphasizes sending less-skilled workers primarily to the Middle East, is not our primary objective." 

"While approximately 2,000 private agencies collectively send a million workers, BOESL's individual efforts are not insignificant. However, we are committed to continuously expanding our reach and sending more workers abroad," he said.

Why BOESL lags behind

Migration experts and stakeholders lauded BOESL for fostering trust among overseas employers by adhering to an orderly, safe, and systematic recruitment process, aligning with its mission to minimise migration costs.

Nevertheless, BOESL's exploration of new job opportunities was hampered by capacity constraints, ineffective marketing strategies, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and a cautious approach to competition, they said.

Another factor contributing to the higher processing capacity of private recruiters compared to BOESL is the involvement in visa trading.

Visa trading — the procuring of visas from employers by middlemen and their sales to recruiting agencies in source countries like Bangladesh — is illegal. But the practice remains widespread, forcing job seekers to cough up extra amounts of money as they prepare for work overseas.

While adhering to its commitment to ethical and safe migration, BOESL refrains from engaging in such practices. However, company officials informed The Business Standard that they are actively exploring new destination markets, with a focus on skilled migration.

BOESL General Manager ABM Abdul Halim said, "Besides, we are actively engaging with the labour wings of Bangladeshi missions abroad to expand our reach. We anticipate sending workers to the Middle East soon."

Under the business promotion initiatives in this fiscal year, BOESL has unlocked the European market and sent a small number of construction workers to Croatia, RMG workers in Romania, and Bulgaria.

It has also sent 661 nurses having diploma certificates and BSc degrees to Kuwait, 885 manufacturing and plantation workers to Malaysia, 72 skilled workforce to Fiji and 32 shipbuilding workers to Russia.

In addition, BOESL is striving to open new job opportunities in Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Lebanon, and other prospective destinations all over the globe.

Dr Md Nurul Islam, former director (Training) of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET), told TBS, "BOESL's limited expansion of worker deployments can be attributed to a cautious approach. They seem to prioritize quality control over increasing the number of workers sent abroad. However, this conservative strategy may hinder their growth potential."

"BOESL's primary markets have remained predominantly focused on South Korea and Jordan, with limited expansion beyond these established destinations. However, with a more proactive and strategic approach, BOESL could unlock a multitude of untapped markets. Our foreign missions abroad will assist BOESL in this endeavour," said Nurul Islam, who has served as labour counsellor at the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh.

A successful journey to S Korea, Jordan

BOESL mainly sends workers to two destinations — Jordan and South Korea — under government-to-government deals.

It has sent the highest number of workers to Jordan in the RMG sector, while 28,000 workers went to South Korea, mostly in manufacturing, till June this year since 2010.

BOESL started providing RMG workers to Jordan in 2010 by sending machine operators to one garment factory.

Currently, 42 garment companies in Jordan are taking garment workers through BOESL at a monthly salary of around Tk 25,000–35,000.

Currently, the migration cost is Tk15,700 to Tk26,800 for Jordan-bound workers when employers bore the airfare.

However, private recruiters alleged that BOESL had a monopoly in those markets.

Manpower and marketing needed to expand BOESL 

Unlike BOESL, private agencies engage in aggressive marketing in destination countries to get more job offers from employers. But BOESL has yet to have any agents in destinations.

"We must take all necessary steps to expand BOESL's capabilities, including increasing its workforce. With a larger workforce, BOESL can effectively play a more prominent role in the labour migration landscape," Asif Munier, a migration expert and ILO consultant, told TBS.

ABM Abdul Halim, general manager of BOESL, told TBS that the company is actively pursuing the appointment of agents in potential destination countries like Jordan to expand its reach and tap into new employment opportunities.

Additionally, to better serve migrant workers, BOESL is establishing its own offices and training centres across four divisional levels, providing comprehensive and integrated services, he added.