Dhaka, July 16 - Bangladesh's overseas job market that fetches high earnings is set to shrink as Mauritian authorities have decided to send back 6,000 workers by the end of the year, citing the global recession.

This will be the second biggest job loss after Malaysia cancelled over 55,000 job visas in March, New Age newspaper said Thursday.

Malaysia had promised to take 300,000 Bangladeshi workers before the recession set in.

Mauritius has asked the Bangladeshis, 4,000 of whom work in clothing factories, to leave by the year-end in a move to protect local jobs in the recession-hit textile sector.

Bangladesh and Mauritius both depend heavily on ready made garment manufacture and exports.

Manpower export is the second highest foreign exchange earner for Bangladesh. But it finds its workers returning home from several places, including the United Arab Emirates.

On an official visit to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina managed to persuade the Saudi royalty to give preferential treatment to Bangladeshi workers.

Saudi Arabia passed a special law to facilitate their transfer of jobs on the eve of her visit earlier this year.