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Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) sent a record 19,197 Bangladeshi workers abroad for employment in the 2025-26 fiscal year, marking the highest annual deployment in the state-run recruiting agency’s history.
The number was 3,131 higher than the previous fiscal year, representing a 19.5 percent increase. BOESL had facilitated overseas employment for 16,066 workers in FY25.
Officials said the sharp rise reflects growing confidence among foreign employers and governments in BOESL as a government-backed recruitment agency, while the organisation is also expanding existing labour markets and exploring new destinations for Bangladeshi workers.
Of the total workers sent abroad in FY26, the overwhelming majority, 14,543, went to Jordan. Brunei was the second-largest destination, receiving 1,812 Bangladeshi workers, followed by South Korea with 1,404 and Malaysia with 1,007.
BOESL also sent 342 workers to Russia, 64 to Iraq, 11 to Japan, four to Hong Kong, five to Kuwait and five to Fiji.
Since its establishment in 1984, BOESL has facilitated overseas employment for a total of 195,438 Bangladeshi workers in 36 countries, according to the agency’s data up to June 30, 2026.
At present, BOESL is recruiting and sending workers to countries including Jordan, South Korea, Iraq, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Brunei, Russia, Fiji, Japan and Malaysia. The agency is simultaneously working to identify and develop new labour markets.
BOESL Managing Director Mohammad Rashedul Haque told BSS that the number of workers sent abroad through the agency increased significantly in FY26 compared with the previous fiscal year.
“One of the reasons behind this is the increased trust and confidence of foreign countries in BOESL as a government institution,” he said.
Rashedul said Bangladesh’s overseas employment sector had long been affected by the dominance of recruitment syndicates, which, according to him, restricted opportunities for ordinary workers seeking to migrate at lower costs.
He said the situation had changed following the change of government and that opportunities were opening up again for workers seeking employment abroad through transparent channels.
“BOESL has succeeded in markets where the syndicate failed,” he said, adding that the agency’s initiatives had helped create opportunities to reopen some labour markets that had previously been closed.
He said BOESL mainly sends workers through government-to-government (G2G) arrangements, allowing Bangladesh to build direct institutional relationships with destination countries.
Rashedul said continued trust and confidence between Bangladesh and labour-receiving countries could enable BOESL to become a stronger platform for overseas employment, particularly in line with the government’s election pledge and five-year action plan.
Asked about the government’s target of sending one million workers abroad, Rashedul said it was too early to determine precisely how many of them could be deployed through BOESL.
He pointed out that historically only around 1.5 percent of Bangladeshi workers migrating overseas for employment have gone through BOESL.
He said strengthening the state-run agency would therefore be essential if the government wanted to reduce the influence of recruitment syndicates and expand access to overseas jobs through transparent, affordable recruitment mechanisms.
“At the moment, there is no alternative to making BOESL functional if we want to free the foreign labour market from the influence of syndicates through transparent policies and increase opportunities to send workers abroad at low cost,” he said.
He described overseas employment of skilled Bangladeshi workers as an important source of foreign exchange for the country.
“Our main goal is to serve the people. The better we can serve the people, the more positive results we will get,” he said.
BOESL Executive Director Shawkat Ali said the agency has set a target of sending 40,000 workers abroad in the current fiscal year.
If achieved, the target would be more than double the number of workers deployed by BOESL in FY26 and would establish another record for the agency.
BOESL General Manager (Overseas Employment) Noor Ahmed said the agency had already sent 1,431 workers to different countries in July, the first month of the current fiscal year.
“We are currently trying to expand labour markets beyond our existing ones,” he said.
According to him, negotiations are under way to expand Bangladesh’s labour market in Mongolia, and a decision could be finalised soon.
Managing Director Rashedul said BOESL is pursuing a three-pronged strategy by categorising foreign labour markets as existing, closed and potential.
The agency is assessing opportunities in each category and developing separate plans to strengthen established markets, reopen destinations that have been closed to Bangladeshi workers and enter new markets.
“Special emphasis is being given to creating new possibilities for exporting skilled manpower,” he said.
The expansion of BOESL’s role comes at a time when Bangladesh is seeking to increase overseas employment while reducing the high costs often associated with labour migration.
A stronger state-led recruitment mechanism could potentially help more workers access foreign jobs through transparent processes, reduce the scope for exploitation by intermediaries and ensure that a greater share of the benefits of overseas employment reaches migrant workers and their families.
With a target of 40,000 deployments in FY27 and negotiations under way with new destinations such as Mongolia, BOESL is seeking to turn its record performance in FY26 into a sustained expansion of Bangladesh’s overseas labour market.