Japan market shows promises for BD women caregivers

Japan has emerged as a potential market for Bangladeshi women jobseekers in the caregiving sector, following a high demand for such professionals in that country.

The East Asian nation has a growing demand for caregivers because of its increasing aging population. The country hires such manpower from different countries.

Now Japan is also eager to recruit caregivers from Bangladesh, said officials.

Earlier, in March this year, Whita Japan, a Japanese manpower receiving organisation, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) in order to hire caregivers from Bangladesh.

Engineer Md Salah Uddin, director (training operations) of the BMET, said the first batch of caregivers under the fresh arrangement is expected to fly by February next year.

"We have trained up 20 aspirants for the first batch," he said.

Japanese language skill is mandatory for the profession, alongside having a good grip on necessary technical terms regarding the job, he said.

Other necessary training will be provided by the employers in the job destination country, he added.

The BMET director said Bangladesh is trying to tap the market and has taken initiatives to create required manpower.

A total of 31 technical training centres (TTCs) are providing Japanese language training, while another 19 TTCs would be added in the list soon, he mentioned.

Asked, an official said the required educational qualification for the job is HSC, and the jobseekers must have N4 level Japanese language skill.

Each caregiver will get more than Tk 100,000 per month in wages, while employers will bear the cost of migration, he said.

Meanwhile, migration experts have laid emphasis on sending women in this profession as it would ensure quality and skill migration, which is very important for the country.

Currently, about 0.1 million women workers go abroad with jobs each year - the majority of them are less-skilled workers bound for Middle Eastern countries.

So they face different kinds of impediment at workplaces, observed the experts.

Although Bangladesh started sending women to Japan in the caregiving sector five years back under a deal with IM Japan, it could send only 13 women.

In 2017, the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry of Bangladesh and International Manpower Development Organisation of Japan (IM Japan) signed an instrument for hiring technical interns from Bangladesh.

Under the deal, 268 Bangladeshi youths have so far gone to Japan as technical interns.

They were employed in different sectors, including construction and automobiles.

A total of 150 workers are in the pipeline to fly to Japan, officials mentioned.

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