Dhaka sees highest number of unemployment, graduates at the top

Business Report :

Dhaka division has witnessed the highest unemployment numbering 687,000 persons, followed by Chattogram and Rajshahi, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey, with a bleak picture of joblessness among the graduates.

After Dhaka division, there are 584,000 unemployed in Chittagong division, 357,000 in Rajshahi, 331,000 in Khulna, 216,000 in Sylhet, 266,000 in Rangpur, 139,000 in Barisal, and 144,000 in Mymensingh division, BBS released the final report of the Labor Force Survey -2024 on Thursday.

As per the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO), a person who works for one hour a week and gets paid will not be considered unemployed. Anyone who has been looking for work for a month and has not had the opportunity to work for one hour in the last week will be considered unemployed. This is the definition of international standards.

Correspondingly, the number of unemployed in Bangladesh is 2.6 million 24 thousand. But in the reality of Bangladesh, it is impossible to make a living by working for one hour a week.
Meanwhile, there are about 10 million people who cannot find the work they want. They are considered pseudo-unemployed.

The situation in developed countries is different. In developed countries, people who work for one hour a week are paid unemployment benefits by the state in addition to their wages. As a result, they do not have much trouble meeting their living expenses. The educated are more unemployed. According to the BBS survey, 13.5 percent of the unemployed in the country have a bachelor’s degree. 7.13 percent of the unemployed have completed higher secondary education. This means that 1 out of every 5 unemployed people has a bachelor’s degree or a higher secondary certificate.

Those without formal education are the least likely to be unemployed, accounting for only 1.25 percent of the unemployed. Now let’s see what the situation is among unemployed youth. The number of unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 29 is about 2 million. Of the unemployed in the country, 76 percent are between the ages of 15 and 29. In addition, the unemployment rate among youth in this age group is the highest at more than 8 percent. About 29 percent of unemployed youth (aged 15-29) have a bachelor’s degree. This means that one in three graduates is unemployed.

The BBS survey has mentioned 10 types of methods of finding a job. According to the BBS survey, about 36 percent of job seekers have requested jobs from relatives and friends. And about 26 percent of job seekers have found jobs through newspaper advertisements. And about 12 percent of job seekers have directly approached various organizations and asked for jobs.
There are three types of unemployment, namely, mismatch unemployment, business cycle unemployment, and structural unemployment.

When there is a gap between the demand and supply of labor in the labor market, it is called mismatched unemployment. Such unemployment is seen in North Bengal and the Haor regions. When the supply of the type of people needed in the industrial and service sectors is low, it is mismatched unemployment.

Unemployment sometimes increases or decreases due to economic booms or busts. For example, the number of unemployed people increased due to Covid. This is business cycle unemployment. Unemployment also increases due to changes in technology. This type of unemployment is called structural unemployment.