Thousands of job seekers face uncertainty at least for next two years as the job market crisis in Bangladesh continues to collapse amid the corona emergency.
Recent university graduates are facing immense challenges in finding jobs amid the global as well as national coronavirus economic crisis.
Economists highly recommend launching nationwide skill development training programmes in order to open the doors for self-employment work opportunities while also facilitating easy soft bank loans for such ‘skilled’ people to allow growth of young entrepreneurship.
Around 20 lakh young people join the country's job market every year. A large number of them are bachelor or master's degree holders. However, there is extreme uncertainty for the fresh job applicants as the corona crisis continues to linger.
While the unemployment rate in Bangladesh is 4.2 percent, the ‘youth’ unemployment rate is 11.6 percent. This may further increase due to the persisting coronavirus crisis.
When contacted, the State Minister for Public Administration, Farhad Hossain told Bangladesh Post, “We have discussed the issues of crisis in the job market. When the situation improves a bit we may recommend relaxing the (30 years) age limits for entry into government jobs. But thuis depends on the final decision of the Prime Minister.”
The Minister also said that about the vacant positions in the government offices, measures would be taken soon to fill up the vacancies.
Analysts fear the recession may continue for at least two more years, which will have a negative impact on business as well as the job market. If anyone stays out of the job market for a long time, people will be frustrated. As a result, not only it will be economic losses, but it will also have a negative impact on society as a whole.
In this situation the experts put emphasis on skill development training programmes for youngers across the nation and create new job opportunities in all sectors.
According to the latest Labour Force Survey in 2017 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the total working population in Bangladesh is 6.35 crore. Of these, 27 lakh people are unemployed.
Economist Dr Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies told Bangladesh Post that now the economy has shrunk. Employment opportunities are low. Many people are losing their jobs. Uncertainty has been created for newcomers. In such a situation, the government has to create new opportunities.
“Now e-commerce is expanding. The government can provide free training to those who are interested in these jobs. In this case, department of youth development can be used, so that it spreads to remote areas. As well as the difficult conditions that exist in the case of loan cooperation for new entrepreneurs, they have to make the loan much easier,” she continued.
“There is a huge potential in the agro processing sector in our country. We can focus more on this sector to overcome the current crisis. Many people want to do it, but they do not know how to do it. So they have to arrange training. Then there will be a lot of employment. Many are now leaving the city and going to their villages due to lack of employment. They need training and financial support so that they can do different types work around agriculture,” Nazneen said.
Emon Siddiqui, who has completed his master's degree from Jahangirnagar University, said, “I have been preparing myself for various jobs. Moreover, there is no opportunity to provide tuition. There is hardly any scope to work and earn money. I am so frustrated.”
After graduating from Dhaka University, Sonia Akhter has been trying seeking job for quite a long time. She said, “I have been trying to get a job but it seems the job market has shrunk. I am really helpless and frustrated.”
Razib Ahamed, a career consultant widely known as ‘Bikroybondhu’ and corporate trainer told Bangladesh Post that “No matter how dire the situation in corona, there has never been a shortage of qualified candidates and never will be in the future. The problem is that majorities of our young generation believe that once they complete studies they think that they would readily get jobs. No one realizes the cruel truth that this world is only a field of survival with the merits of the most deserving ones. As a result, many of the candidates do not properly prepare themselves for the highly competitive job market. Eventually, he or she becomes unemployed and becomes a burden to the family and the society.”
“In the ongoing corona crisis, most of the non-government organizations are pursuing cost-cutting policies in the interest of their own survival. As a result, not only incompetents but also many qualified workers are being laid off. I anticipate that there will be fewer new employment opportunities in the private sector for at least the next two years. In this situation, choosing the path of self-employment will be the indicator of intelligence,” he added.
Razib Ahamed further said that if the government wants, it can speed up the recruitment process in the government services, which will at least solve the problem of unemployment in the ongoing crisis.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), one out of every six young people in the world is unemployed due to the coronavirus crisis now and in Bangladesh one out of every four young people is unemployed (27.39 percent). This unemployment has been rising since February.
In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, many private organisations, including banking and financial institutions have decided to cut staff salaries. Many organizations are laying off staff to reduce costs. And most companies have stopped hiring new staff.
According to a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, the job market in Bangladesh has collapsed due to the impact of coronavirus. Job advertisement has dropped dramatically. Job advertisement was 35 percent lower in March this year than last year.
The report says, in April, it decreased by 87 percent. In April, there were 95 percent fewer job advertisements in the garments and education sectors. There were 92 percent less job advertisements in the manufacturing industry.
Jobs in the health sector have declined by 71 percent. Information technology sector too suffers. Job advertisements in this sector has decreased by 82 percent. Job advertisements in private development agencies have also declined by 64 percent.
The 41st BCS preliminary examination was scheduled to be held in April this year. Some 4 lakh 75 thousand candidates have applied to take part in it. The results of the 40th BCS written test have also been postponed due to corona. The final result of the 38th BCS is also pending. However, everyone has got a job in the 39th special BCS. Besides, numerous recruitment examinations of various government and non-government organisations have been postponed.