A young man who completed his master’s degree in Sociology from Dhaka College spent two years unemployed before finally securing a job at a private organisation.
At first, the job brought relief. The long spell of unemployment was over. But that relief did not last long.
His monthly salary is Tk15,000. He works 10 hours a day and gets only one day off a week. What once seemed like an escape from joblessness now feels like another form of hardship.
“Being born in Bangladesh feels like a curse,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh. “The office expects us to dress well, but does not think about where the money will come from. Even a rickshaw puller earns more than me. A vegetable seller who calls me ‘sir’ may be far better off than I am.”
His experience reflects a broader crisis in Bangladesh’s youth labour market. The debate over employment often centres on whether young people are getting jobs at all. Far less attention is paid to whether the jobs they find are decent, secure and fairly paid.
For many young graduates, particularly those entering the private sector, employment does not always bring financial stability or dignity. Instead, low wages, long working hours and limited benefits leave them frustrated even after they finally enter the labour market.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ Economic Census 2024, the country now has more than 1.17 crore economic units, nearly 50 per cent higher than in 2013. These establishments employ more than three crore people.
But the expansion of economic activity has not necessarily translated into quality jobs for young graduates.
While the government is moving towards a new pay scale to make public-sector salaries more realistic, there is little discussion over what should be done for private-sector employees. Banks, multinational companies and a small number of large local firms offer relatively better salaries, but in many other organisations, entry-level pay and working conditions remain a major source of dissatisfaction.
Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer of BDJobs, the country’s largest online job portal, said job creation alone would not solve the problem of educated unemployment.
“Alongside job creation, ensuring job stability, fair wages, social protection, working conditions and labour rights is equally important,” he told TIMES. “Solving educated unemployment is not just about increasing the number of jobs; it requires quality and sustainable employment.”
Is policy needed for quality jobs?
Government jobs remain the most attractive option for many young people because recruitment, promotion, leave, retirement and other benefits are governed by laws and regulations. The national pay scale, pension and other facilities provide a level of security that is rarely available in much of the private sector.
In the private sector, labour laws exist, but recruitment practices, performance evaluation, salary structures and job security vary widely from one organisation to another. As a result, a rise in the number of jobs does not always mean a rise in decent employment.
Professor Waresul Karim, dean of School of Business and Economics University at North South, said the pressure on businesses also needed to be considered.
“Businesses aim to make profits. But at present, firms are under pressure from high interest rates, inflation and rising operational costs. Therefore, their ability to offer higher wages must also be considered,” he told TIMES.
He said an improvement in the broader macroeconomic situation, lower interest rates and a stronger business environment would help firms earn better profits and eventually pay better wages.
On the question of whether regulations are needed for private-sector jobs, Fahim Mashroor said, “Excessive regulatory policies for the private sector may not always be effective. Too much regulation can sometimes place additional pressure on businesses.”
Are graduates ready for the job market?
The employment crisis has another side. While thousands of young people struggle to find jobs, employers often complain that they cannot find workers with the skills they need.
Fahim Mashroor said the problem is not one-dimensional.
On the one hand, there is a shortage of quality jobs. On the other, the education system, skills development programmes and labour market demands are poorly connected. As a result, many graduates leave university with degrees but without the skills employers expect.
For years, Bangladesh has discussed university-industry partnerships, compulsory internships, technical training, soft-skills development, labour-market-based planning and expansion of employment in small and medium enterprises. But large-scale, coordinated government action remains limited.
The current government has spoken of improving skills development. The budget has also proposed making technical education compulsory, although the country still lacks the infrastructure required to implement such a plan effectively.
Professor Karim said unemployment should not be blamed only on a lack of skills. Structural weaknesses in the economy are also responsible.
He said reducing the cost of doing business, bringing down high interest rates and ensuring an investment-friendly environment were essential for expanding employment.
Is entrepreneurship a real alternative?
As formal jobs remain scarce, many young people are being encouraged to become entrepreneurs. But for graduates from lower- and lower-middle-income families, that path is far from easy.
Meherab Hossain, a graduate in Islamic History from Dhaka University, spent a year preparing for government jobs before starting a small clothing business in Dhaka’s Farmgate area. Once he entered business, he realised that calculations on paper rarely match the reality on the ground.
“Becoming an entrepreneur sounds easy, but in reality, it is not,” he told TIMES. “For a lower-middle-class young person, raising capital is very difficult. Access to bank loans is also limited.”
According to the BBS Economic Census 2024, 86 per cent of entrepreneurs identified shortage of capital as the biggest obstacle to doing business.
Fahim Mashroor said entrepreneurship should not be presented as the only answer to unemployment. “Not everyone can become an entrepreneur, and entrepreneurship should not be seen as the only solution to unemployment.”
He said an economy needs not only entrepreneurs, but also skilled teachers, engineers, doctors, marketing professionals, technology workers and other trained professionals.
In his view, the government could create large-scale employment by increasing investment in education and social sectors. Recruiting enough teachers, improving educational infrastructure and ensuring decent salaries could open up new opportunities for educated young people.
Does the budget reflect the crisis?
According to the latest BBS labour force survey, Bangladesh has around 27.30 lakh unemployed people. Of them, nearly 8.85 lakh are university graduates, meaning graduates account for almost one-third of the unemployed.
This has forced many young people to search for alternatives even after completing higher education.
But experts say the official definition of unemployment does not fully reflect Bangladesh’s reality. The International Labour Organization defines an unemployed person as someone aged 15 or above who did not work even one hour for pay or profit in the previous week, is available to start work within the next two weeks and has actively looked for work in the past four weeks. Bangladesh follows the same definition.
In practice, however, one hour of paid work a week is hardly enough to meet even pocket money in Bangladesh.
Professor Karim questioned the gap between official unemployment figures and the government’s employment claims.
“If there are only 27 lakh unemployed people in the country, why does the government talk about creating one crore jobs? Then there should be no need,” he said.
The new budget speaks of building an employment-oriented, industrial and production-based economy. It also gives importance to startups and small enterprises to make young people more entrepreneurial and work-oriented.
Education spending has been proposed at Tk1,36,606 crore, around 2.5 per cent of GDP. A Tk500 crore startup fund has also been proposed to support young entrepreneurs.
But Professor Karim said the key question is whether these allocations would create a direct link between education and employment.
“Even though education receives the largest allocation in the budget, the real question is how directly it will translate into employment,” he said. “What matters is how effectively the funds are used to develop skilled human resources and generate jobs.”
The new fear: AI
At a time when young people are already struggling with low pay, weak job quality and limited opportunities, artificial intelligence is creating a new layer of uncertainty.
There are already reports of computer science and engineering graduates failing to find jobs, while some freelancers are also struggling to secure work. In the ready-made garment sector and other industries, technology and automation are also raising concerns about job losses or slower recruitment.
Fahim Mashroor said students should not rely only on academic degrees. They should develop practical and alternative skills while still at university.
“During university life, students should focus on acquiring alternative skills,” he said. “Driving, cooking, freelancing or other practical skills can offer some protection against unemployment risk.”
Without stronger links between education and industry, better job standards, easier access to capital and a more investment-friendly economy, they said the journey from university to the labour market will remain uncertain for millions of young people.
