Middle Eastern labor markets are shifting away from low-skilled migrant hiring, threatening Bangladesh’s long-standing model of sending about 1 million workers abroad annually and relying on Gulf remittances for over half its inflows.
AI, automation and nationalization drives such as Saudisation and Emiratisation are shrinking repetitive jobs, while Gulf economies pivot toward technology, tourism, digital services and other higher-skill sectors.
ILO estimates 14.6% of jobs in the Arab region—about 8 million—will become more technology-dependent, while 2.2%, or roughly 1.2 million jobs, could disappear through automation.
Bangladeshi workers are especially exposed because many are in construction, transport, trade and hospitality—sectors the ILO says account for about 40% of regional jobs and carry high disruption risk.
The report argues Bangladesh must shift from volume-based migration to skill-based exports, warning a 20% to 30% drop in low-skilled Gulf demand over the next decade would hit jobs, wages, remittances and rural consumption.