ILO Urges Faster Skills Recognition to Open Jobs for Trained Bangladeshi Workers

More than 1,000 beneficiaries have received training, with 776 assessed as competent across 12 occupations under the EU-funded initiative.

The International Labour Organization has called for faster, cheaper and more practical recognition of migrant workers' skills, presenting progress from the EU-Bangladesh Talent Partnership Project. More than 1,000 beneficiaries have received training, with 776 assessed as competent across 12 occupations under the EU-funded initiative. The project prepares Bangladeshi workers for skilled employment in selected EU Member States and supports safe, legal migration pathways.

ILO Chief Technical Advisor Lotte Kejser presented the findings at an event on skills mobility organised by the Irish EU Presidency and Quality and Qualifications Ireland. Discussions examined how European transparency tools could support the Skills Portability Initiative and help workers carry recognised skills across borders. Kejser highlighted the difficulties created by fragmented recognition systems, which can make recognition of qualifications from outside the EU expensive, complicated and slow.

Training under the project combines technical skills, recognition of prior learning, language and cultural preparation, and information about workers' rights and fair recruitment. Skills-needs assessments, training-needs analyses, migration corridor research and a review of priority sectors have helped guide this work. Existing higher-level qualifications have been selected across occupations that best match demand in EU labour markets, connecting preparation in Bangladesh with employers' requirements.

Experience and competence need clearer recognition

Employers may value practical work experience that formal recognition procedures fail to acknowledge through recognition of prior learning. Kejser said credible, practical recognition helps workers access skilled jobs, gives employers greater confidence and supports legal labour mobility that reduces incentives for irregular migration. She urged the European Commission and Member States to use competency-based assessments for non-regulated occupations and give employers a stronger role in accepting evidence of workers' abilities.

Five proposals address delays, costs and uncertainty

The proposals call for recognition procedures that value experience and competence, alongside arrangements allowing workers to complete recognition after arrival during employment through a recognition-partnership memorandum of understanding or permit. Countries should accept joint, quality-assured assessments conducted before departure in countries of origin, supported by independent assessment and employer or employer-agent participation where required for additional confidence. A single digital window should connect qualification recognition with the EU Talent Pool, Europass, ESCO and the Talent Partnership Pass.

Short, clearly defined timelines, low fees, simpler procedures and single points of contact form another part of the recommendations, with harmonisation pursued where feasible. Focal points within national recognition bodies and sustained joint technical working groups on standards and quality assurance could help make recognition more consistent and practically useful. The recommendations also call for links between certified candidates and the EU Talent Pool, helping connect assessed skills with employment opportunities.

Digital services connect employers with trained candidates

The project has developed its first public-facing website for employers and expanded Bangladesh's Government Overseas Employment Portal to support recruitment-related services. Employers can register, submit job demands and access worker profiles through the expanded portal, adding practical tools to the project's training and assessment work. Financed by the EU, the initiative is implemented by the ILO with Bangladesh's Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, working with public and private technical and vocational education and training institutes.