Seven in 10 skills-trained Bangladeshi workers placed in overseas jobs have gone to Asian markets, according to an internal survey by the National Skills Development Authority, as the country expands training programs aimed at preparing workers for jobs abroad.
Between 2022 and July this year, more than 750 training providers across Bangladesh placed nearly 19,000 trained workers overseas. The authority, which sets national skills policy, standard curricula and quality assurance, found that 70 percent of them went to Asia, 17.62 percent to Europe and 7 percent to North America. Australia and Oceania accounted for 293 placements, Africa for 147 and South America for just four.
The survey also mapped occupations to destinations. It identified 54 occupations linked to placements in Asia, compared with 42 in Europe, 31 in North America and 32 in Australia and Oceania. Examples include automotive mechanics, caregiving, electrical installation, machine operation, refrigeration and air conditioning, plumbing, welding, digital marketing and IT support. The authority has no data on placements by occupation and destination country.
Five occupations appeared in six regions: driving, electrical installation and maintenance, plumbing and pipe fitting, refrigeration and air conditioning, and welding. Solar photovoltaic technicians were placed in Asia, Europe and Australia and Oceania, pointing to openings in markets expanding renewable energy installations. Accounting, carpentry, tourism guiding and a few other trades were placed in only one region.
Experts say Asia's lead is not necessarily a weakness. Dhaka University economics professor Niaz Asadullah noted that the region includes high-income markets such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, and said job quality, wages and working conditions matter more than the destination itself. The bigger problem, he said, is the weak link between training, certification and recruitment. A domestic certificate alone will not open Australian or European markets without internationally recognized competencies, language skills and employer links. He argued that success should be judged by how many graduates secure skilled jobs abroad and what they earn, not by how many people are trained.
Urmi Jahan Tanni, research manager at the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program, said the skills system remains disconnected from labor market and overseas demand. She called for demand-driven training, language and soft skills built into vocational courses, and international recognition of qualifications. Technical competence alone is not enough for many European markets, she said, where communication, workplace behavior, digital literacy and occupational safety knowledge may also be required.
The authority's executive chairman, Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury, said about 43 percent of training providers are underused, partly because of a shortage of qualified trainers. She said completion-based training does not necessarily produce skilled workers and urged a shift to competency-based training. The authority has about 2,700 trainers and aims to reach 10,000 by 2030.
Since certification began in 2022, nearly 676,000 people have sat for regular or recognition of prior learning assessments, and about 490,000 of them were found competent. The survey does not report wage figures or how many placements came through employer-linked channels.
