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Japan to start hiring Bangladeshi workers from April 2027

Bangladesh and Japan signed a skills-development cooperation agreement on 17 October. The ministry says the first five years will be followed by another five automatically.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 20 Oct 2026, 11:26

The migrant workers' lounge at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. — The migrant workers' lounge at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, photographed at its inauguration in November 2024. File photo. Press Information Department (PID), Government of Bangladesh

At a glance

Recruitment under the ESD-MOC starts on 1 April 2027.
The agreement runs for five years and renews automatically for five more.
The ministry says workers will have the same legal protection as Japanese staff.

Japan will begin recruiting workers from Bangladesh on 1 April 2027 under an agreement signed on 17 October, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said.

The memorandum is known as the ESD-MOC, or Memorandum of Cooperation on Employment Skills Development. The ministry's secretary signed for Bangladesh. Japan was represented by its ministries of justice, foreign affairs, and health, labour and welfare, along with the National Police Agency.

The ministry said the initial term is five years and will be renewed automatically for a further five, for a total of ten years.

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said the agreement is meant to give Bangladeshi workers legal protection on par with Japanese workers and equal opportunities for men and women. The ministry said women cannot be dismissed or treated unfairly because of pregnancy or childbirth, and that the deal contains no compulsory repatriation on those grounds.

The minister said the agreement would also support skills development, higher wages and longer stays in Japan.

A copy of the agreement is to be handed over formally during Prime Minister Tareque Rahman's planned visit to Japan, according to the ministry.

The announcement did not say how many workers Japan will take or which sectors will recruit first. The ministry described the agreement as a framework for cooperation in sending and receiving workers, with the operational details to be settled as it is carried out.

The ministry said it expects the agreement to strengthen relations between the two countries and widen opportunities for Bangladesh's skilled workers.

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