NEED BASED SKILLED HUMAN RESOURCES FOR OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT

Abstract

The Government of Bangladesh had been promoting overseas employment to the Middle East and other developed countries since the 1970s. The trend is still on the rise, but unfortunately most of its overseas workers are unskilled or less skilled migrants who remain vulnerable to job termination, low wage, and demeaning working environment. Nevertheless, there are enormous employment opportunities for the skilled human resources (HR). To maintain the momentum of migration and remittance earning, Bangladesh must identify skills needed to prepare its HR accordingly. Thus, the main purpose of the study is to determine required skills to prepare need based skilled HR in Bangladesh for overseas employment. The paper has been constructed with the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A stratified sampling technique was used to collect quantitative data from Bangladeshi expatriates (n=102) through convenience and judgemental techniques via pre-coded survey opinions in the Likert’s scale and qualitative data were collected through FGD and KII. Secondary information was collected from books, journals, reports, and relevant websites. The research hypothesis- ‘the more need based skilled human resources, the more there will be overseas employment opportunities’ was analysed and tested using SPSS software. The study found that there is a direct relationship and effect of need based skilled HR on overseas employment (β=0.569). The study also found the most significant causes which are, a mismatch between training provided and skills requirement in the job market, obsolete training discourses and lack of proper education of the expatriates. The research suggests developing infrastructures to impart market-oriented training on communication and analytical skills, interpersonal behavioural skills, legal knowledge, hygiene, and sanitation practices, learning to learn, and proficiency in life skills and so on.