Bangladesh Maid Agency: Bringing trust and reliability to domestic work

When Amzad Hossain, a former kindergarten teacher, and his newlywed wife Sathi Akhter moved to Dhaka, finding a reliable and regular maid became a nightmare. Almost every month, they would have to look for a new maid – some stopped coming without notice, some they had to fire.

Later, they realised that this suffering was not theirs alone. Many of their relatives and friends desperately sought maids who would provide quality service and regularity.

Amzad and Sathi thought, what if they started a business that would work as a platform for hiring maids?

Bangladesh Maid Agency (BMA), co-founded by this couple, started its journey in April 2014. "When you hire a maid, you let them into your personal space and life. We understand how difficult it can be to trust a stranger and blindly put the responsibility of your home and your kids on them," Amzad told The Business Standard.

From 2014 till date, Bangladesh Maid Agency has served more than 5,000 clients. They currently have a pool of over 1,000 maids, serving in households as bandha (live-in) and chhuta (floating) maids.

How does BMA find so many maids? "We have a network of acquaintances who are spread all over Dhaka. We pay them a certain amount in one instalment, and they introduce us to people interested in working as maids," replied Sathi. "It's easier to find reliable and accountable people through people you know."

The vetting process

Besides this active network, Bangladesh Maid Agency's social media, especially its Facebook page, works as a hiring medium. Many people comment on their posts saying they want to work as maids.

"Of course, we wouldn't hire just anyone. After someone expresses interest in working as a maid, we interview them intensively. We try to find sincere people for the job," explained Sathi.

The vetting process also applies to the clients. According to Amzad, on average, they receive 500-600 phone calls monthly. But they select only 50-100 clients among them.

"We don't have an endless pool of maids. So, we have to be selective about clients. Besides, we want to ensure these maids have a good workplace with fair payment," said Amzad.

The client's behaviour and willingness to pay a fair salary to the maids thus become the primary criteria for this selection.

Sheela Emran, the wife of a DIG of Bangladesh Police, lives in Rajarbagh Police Lines. When she was looking for a maid, a family friend recommended Bangladesh Maid Agency. She called them and, within a week, got a live-in maid.

"What I liked about the Bangladesh Maid Agency is that they give you a copy of the maid's NID card, a passport-sized photograph and the contact number of her guardian. This gives an extra sense of security that I always wanted while hiring a maid. Besides, I know the Agency will help us if something untoward happens," said Sheela.

Bangladesh Maid Agency also said they sometimes intervene after connecting a maid and a client, if there is a complaint from either party. "Once in a while, we get clients who don't treat the maids properly, though the number is very low. Sometimes we receive complaints from the clients about the maids. These cases are very rare. But when this happens, we try to mitigate the issues by opening dialogues and compromises," Amzad told TBS.

Of monetary benefits and installments

Kajal Rekha is a 26-year-old live-in maid, working with a family at Dhanmondi 9 for three years. Around seven years ago, one of her acquaintances introduced her to Amzad Hossain, who offered her the job of a live-in maid.

Rekha was desperate for a job but was not able to find any. So, the offer came as a blessing. Ever since then, she has been a regular maid hired through BMA.

"I didn't know I was supposed to pay one month's salary to BMA. I learned about it when the family I worked with explained it, while giving me the first month's salary. But I didn't mind. They helped me get that job when I needed it, and I can now support my mother and sister with that job," said Rekha.

After her first job, Rekha changed houses a few times. The rule of surrendering one month's salary to BMA applies every time a maid changes clients.

Sheela Emran, for example, pays Tk12,500 per month for her live-in maid. She, however, had to pay Tk13,000 as a one-time instalment to the Bangladesh Maid Agency. The maid will repay this amount in small instalments from her salary over time. Once this amount is paid off, she will get the full salary.

The salary of the maids of BMA varies depending on the areas they work in, and the sizes of the houses. However, Amzad said they do not want to deal with customers unwilling to pay at least Tk10,500 for a live-in maid.

Demand for maids is higher in areas like Gulshan, Banani, Mirpur, Dhanmondi, Uttara and Bashundhara R/A.

For floating maids, usually, the salary is Tk1,100 for each type of work – such as for cutting vegetables, sweeping/mopping the apartment, washing dishes, etc. However, BMA ensures that the floating maids are paid Tk1,600 per month for mopping the floor if the flat is bigger than the standard size (800-1400 square feet).

The salary of a live-in maid can go up to Tk16,000 per month, especially in Gulshan and Mirpur DOHS areas, with comparatively bigger flats. The standard salary is usually around Tk12,000 per month.

Besides providing maids, BMA also provides babysitters, caregivers and houseboys, though these services are less in demand. "If there is any specific request for any of these services from the clients, say for example babysitter, we try our best to find a suitable fit for it," said Amzad.

There is no fixed or standard salary structure for these services either. BMA talks with both the client and the person willing to provide the service to strike a deal that satisfies both parties.

A massive setback

In October 2022, the Facebook page and the website of Bangladesh Maid Agency were hacked. It was a massive blow for the company since many clients reached them through their Facebook page. After failing to recover the page and the website, they started over.

According to Amzad, the hacked page had a few lakh followers, which attracted the hackers.

Bangladesh Maid Agency is now trying to build its online presence from scratch with its six-member team. The hacking event made it difficult for the company to operate for a while. The lower number of maids made meeting the client's needs especially difficult. But it is recovering slowly.

"We have many government-level high-profile clients. For example, our maids work for a minister and an MP's family. This shows that our clients trust us and we can provide reliable maids," Amzad said.

Amzad and Sathi are now focusing on expanding their business. Outside Dhaka, Bangladesh Maid Agency currently operates in Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Chattogram and Khulna.

Domestic help / agency