Despite Japan's interest in recruiting up to 100,000 skilled Bangladeshi workers over the next five years, Bangladesh continues to lag far behind Nepal in sending workers to the East Asian nation.

While Nepal sent 56,707 workers to Japan last year, Bangladesh managed only 3,574 – about 16 times fewer, according to data from the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. 

In previous years too, the disparity remained stark. Nepal dispatched over 42,000 and 36,000 workers in 2022 and 2023 respectively, while Bangladesh sent just over 5,000 in both the years.

Sector insiders say the shortage of adequately skilled workers is the primary reason Bangladesh has fallen behind. 

Asif Nazrul, expatriates' welfare and overseas employment adviser, also voiced similar concerns while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled "New Labour Market in Japan: Opportunities and Challenges" today (21 July).

He said while there is demand for workers, Bangladesh often faces challenges in meeting the required skill levels, stressing that meeting Japan's labour market demands requires targeted training.

"Most of our workers are unskilled. While many are learning Japanese, they still fall short of the necessary standards. The only solution is to train workers based on Japan's labour needs," he told the seminar organised by the expatriates' welfare ministry at the International Mother Language Institute auditorium.

He pointed out that although migration costs for Japan and Saudi Arabia are nearly the same – around Tk6 to Tk7 lakh – most Bangladeshi workers prefer the Middle East, where no special skills are needed, despite Japan offering significantly higher salaries.

To bridge the gap, the government has set up a dedicated Japan cell and is preparing to launch a specialised website soon, the adviser said, adding that public-private partnerships are also being explored to enhance and modernise training programmes.

"We are encouraging Japanese companies to manage our Technical Training Centres (TTCs). For instance, the Manohardi TTC has already been handed over to a Japanese partner, instructing them to develop it as they see fit," Nazrul said.

Japan's commitment, MoUs

Other speakers at the seminar also discussed ways to tap into the potential of the Japanese labour market, referring to the signed MoUs with Japan and the country's plan to recruit 100,000 workers from Bangladesh.

During the recent visit of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to Japan, two MoUs were signed to formalise labour migration from Bangladesh.

The first MoU was between BMET (Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training) and Kaicom Dream Street (KDS), a Japan-Bangladesh joint venture. The second was between BMET, Japan's National Business Support Combined Cooperatives (NBCC) – a business federation of over 65 companies, and the Japan Bangla Bridge Recruiting Agency (JBBRA).

During the signing, NBCC Chairman Mikio Kesagayama had said, "In the coming five years, we are prepared to welcome more than 100,000 Bangladeshi workers."

Although the NBCC MoU averages 20,000 annual migration, the figure could be scaled up to 100,000 with the right preparation, according to the expatriates' ministry's Policy Adviser Zia Hasan.

Zia Hasan, who was the seminar's keynote presenter, referred to Nepal, Vietnam and Myanmar as models to follow.

Currently, there are four pathways to migration to Japan from Bangladesh. These are specified skilled workers (SSW), technical intern training program (TITP), white-collar jobs like engineers, and as students.

There are 16 job categories under Japan's SSW programme, of which Bangladeshi workers are eligible for sectors including nursing care, industrial product manufacturing, automobile repair and maintenance, driving, shipbuilding, and agriculture.

According to data shared at the seminar, Japan will require 1.35 lakh nursing care workers, 1.73 lakh workers for industrial manufacturing, 24,500 drivers, 78,000 agricultural workers, and 36,000 shipbuilders over the next five years.

Highlighting the challenges of SSW and TITP, Zia said, "We do not have enough training centres focused on Japan's SSW. Even skill development is not up to the mark, particularly in terms of the standards of both private and public language training and curriculum. Moreover, prospective migrants are largely unaware of the opportunities available in Japan."

Dr Nuruzzaman, CEO of Global Recruiting Agency, said the Japanese job market cannot be approached the same way as the Middle East. 

"We need to create a flexible environment for recruiting agencies so they are encouraged to send workers to Japan," he said.