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Bangladesh Faces Challenge in Meeting South Korean Job Quota for 2023

Despite the South Korean job quota set for this year, Bangladesh is expected to fall short of fulfilling nearly half of the target due to a decrease in demand for workers. South Korea recruits foreign workers for various sectors and has announced a quota of 110,000 workers from source countries for 2023. Bangladesh has been allocated a quota of 10,000 workers but has only received a demand for 4,151 workers as of October 2023.

Officials project that they may receive a maximum of 1,000-1,500 job demands from Korean employers in the remaining two months of the year. This means that Bangladesh is likely to miss the quota by about 50%. The inability of Bangladesh to supply quality workers and the decrease in demand for workers due to the Russia-Ukraine war are the primary reasons for this outcome.

Remittance earnings from Korea are crucial for Bangladesh, as a majority of migrants from the country send remittances through banking channels. Bangladesh mainly sends semi-skilled workers to Korea under the employment permit system (EPS), facilitated by the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL). However, the number of demands for workers from employers has decreased, despite enough workers being available on the BOESL roster.

Dr. Mallick Anwar Hossain, the managing director of BOESL, stated that the demand has been lower than the job quota this year. The economic recession in Europe due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is a major market for Korean products, is believed to be a contributing factor.

Bangladeshi workers often struggle with language proficiency, especially in terms of fluency in conversation. Although they perform well in language tests, their fluency is lacking. It has been suggested that private language training centers should motivate workers to practice their language skills after training. BOESL plans to issue guidelines in January to training centers to improve language training.

The size of a country’s job quota for a year depends on its previous year’s performance in manpower migration. Additionally, even if a country receives a large job quota, employers may choose not to place demands. Many workers have a tendency to run away from the workplace, which is a nuisance for employers and can lead to employers disliking workers from a specific country.

Language skills play a significant role in labor migration to South Korea, and the dropout rate of Bangladeshi workers in language proficiency tests is high. Bangladeshi workers typically score 70-80 marks out of a total of 200 in the language proficiency test, whereas the pass number is 140. Bangladesh mainly sends workers to motor vehicles, food, and handicraft industries in South Korea.

In 2022, Bangladesh received a quota of 3,000 jobs. As it met the requirement quickly, the receiving country doubled the quota, and Bangladesh was able to send 5,891 workers to South Korea last year.

Chairman of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme (OKUP), Shakirul Islam, emphasized the importance of skilled labor migration for Bangladesh at this time.

Source: [The Financial Express](https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd)