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The overseas jobs declined by more than 15 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of the current calendar year than that of the corresponding period of previous year, according to official figures.
During the January-September period in 2019, some 469,275 Bangladeshis found jobs abroad. The number of outbound workers was 555,393 in the nine-month period in 2018, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) data said.
Sector insiders said a good number of job destinations like the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bahrain remained closed for foreign workers since long.
Besides, recruitment of foreign workers reduced significantly in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. So, Bangladesh's overseas employment is facing a negative impact, they added.
Saudi Arabia hired 268,058 workers from Bangladesh in the last nine months, followed by Oman 53,981 and Qatar 44,683. Bangladesh sends workers mainly to 20 destinations.
Manpower recruiters said the number of overseas employments declined due to slow demand of workers in the Middle Eastern countries.
They sought initiating diplomatic efforts by the government to open up the closed markets.
However, the inflow of remittances grew by more than 16 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of current fiscal year (FY).
The flow of inward remittances rose to US$ 4.51 billion during the July-September period of FY 2019-20 from $3.87 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest statistics.
According to the BMET, over 12 million Bangladeshis went abroad since 1976.