Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), has highlighted that educated youth in Bangladesh are experiencing the highest unemployment rates. This revelation came during her keynote speech at a webinar titled “Youth Unemployment in Bangladesh,” organized by the Forum for Bangladesh Studies and moderated by journalist Monir Haider.
Khatun emphasized the troubling correlation between education and unemployment, noting that the more time young people spend in formal education, the longer they remain jobless. “Educated youths are spending extended periods searching for jobs that match their qualifications,” she said.
She also pointed out that unemployment is particularly high among those who have completed 11 years or more of formal education. Women who have spent more than nine years in formal education are also facing significant unemployment rates. Conversely, those with less than seven years of formal education tend to find employment more quickly.
Citing data from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Khatun mentioned that the national unemployment rate stands at 3.6%, with youth unemployment constituting about 80% of this figure. She described the 30% rate of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) as “terrible.”
Khatun criticized the current method of calculating unemployment rates, which follows International Labour Organization (ILO) principles that consider individuals working less than one hour a week as employed. “This method does not accurately reflect the real unemployment situation in our country,” she explained.
Despite the economic recession affecting the country’s stability, Bangladesh continues to experience growth. However, private sector investment remains low at about 23.5% of GDP. Over the past decade, GDP growth has not been accompanied by proportional employment growth, and employment in the agriculture sector is decreasing.
Khatun also highlighted that 90% of total employment in the industrial sector and about 68% in the service sector are informal, making decent employment difficult with such recruitment processes.
During the webinar, AKM Fahim Mashroor, CEO of bdjobs.com, noted that youth unemployment in Bangladesh has significantly worsened. With the economy declining, he expects unemployment rates to increase further. He pointed out that the job market has been stagnant since the onset of Covid-19 and that there has been no improvement despite the country’s transition from a less developed country to a developing one.
Mashroor also emphasized the significant skills gap among students. “Many college and university students aspire to work in multinational organizations after graduation, but they lack essential language and communication skills,” he said.
