Can Bangladesh tap the growing foreign labour market in Japan?

Highlights

• Expatriates' welfare ministry to take skill tests in February-September 2023
• Workers to be recruited for nursing, agriculture, construction industry in Japan
• 86 agencies in Bangladesh authorised to send workers to Japan
• Japan's manpower development team visiting Bangladesh to select workers
• Bangladesh exported 2,740 workers to Japan in 1999-2022 
• In 2022, the country sent 508 workers to Japan

With a declining population and labour shortages, Japan's rising need for an enhanced foreign workforce to keep its economic growth on track has opened up new job opportunities for Bangladeshi workers.

People concerned have said Bangladesh needs to prepare skilled workers as per demand of the Japanese labour market to tap the possibility of more foreign currency being earned.

They also note that the country should develop mid and long-term strategies in this regard.

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has already announced the schedule of skill verification tests from February to September this year to recruit Specified Skilled Workers (SSW) from Bangladesh for the fields of nursing care, agriculture, building cleaning management and construction industry in Japan.

As noted in a study by the Development Bank of Japan and Value Management Institute, Inc, in February last year, Japan will need to more than double its foreign workforce to 42 lakh by 2030, and to 63 lakh by 2040 to achieve an economic growth rate of 1.24% a year.

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimated that Japan's working-age population will slide to less than 6 crore in 2040 from the 7.4 crore that was in 2020.

Md Shahidul Alam, director general of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), told The Business Standard, "Japan has always been in need of workers. Earlier, it used to recruit workers from neighbouring countries like China, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Now it is expanding the scope of such recruitment."

"Bangladeshi workers are doing well in Japan. A team from the International Manpower Development Organisation of Japan is currently visiting Bangladesh to select workers. Japanese teams will visit the country regularly. Their interest in Bangladeshi workers has increased," he added.

He went on to say, "It is still not clear how many Bangladeshi workers will go to Japan every month. They are now sorting out the number. It seems that the number will be more than what it was last year."

Bangladesh sent 2,740 workers to Japan, which is only 0.02% of its total labour export, from 1999 to 2022. In 2022, the country sent 508 workers to the East Asian nation, which is the highest in a year, according to the BMET.

Eighty-six private agencies in Bangladesh are authorised to send workers to Japan. Fujita Overseas is one of them.

Md Abdul Mannan, proprietor of Fujita Overseas, told TBS, "Employers from Japan are contacting us for specified skilled workers (SSW) such as caregivers and agricultural workers. But we cannot provide competent candidates as they have to qualify in three to four tests."

Mentioning that the BMET sends technical interns to Japan, he further said, "The assessment test for SSW will start in February. The selected candidates will be allowed to go through the authorised agencies."

Updated training needed

BMET sources said that some 3,000 Bangladeshis have been trained in the Japanese language besides being imparted necessary technical training.

"Some 30 technical training centres (TTCs) across the country under the BMET are offering necessary training and a six-month course in Japanese language and culture," said Md Salah Uddin, director of training operations at the BMET.

Bangladesh is looking to tap the Japanese labour market by next year and has already begun training a good number of Bangladeshi youth with the necessary skills, he added.

Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) said training and teaching methods need to be improved and the duration of courses should be extended up to a year.

Saying that workers can go to Japan via both government and private agencies, he added, "Bangladeshi workers can earn between $1,000 and $2,000 per month in Japan."