36pc of unemployed people request jobs from relatives, friends: BBS survey

Business Report :

Young people without jobs typically seek employment through friends and family as they believe, friends and family can help them get the career they want. Consequently, the most reliable sources in the employment market are friends and family, according to Labor Force Survey released by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

About 36 percent of job seekers have requested jobs from relatives and friends. That is, one in every three unemployed people seeks jobs through friends and relatives. And about 26 percent of job seekers have sought jobs through newspaper advertisements. And about 12 percent of job seekers have sought jobs directly by going to various organizations, as per Labor Force Survey-2024 published recently.

The BBS survey has mentioned various methods of finding a job or employment. For example, about 9 percent of the unemployed want a job by applying directly to the organization. 5.5 percent of the unemployed decide whether to apply for a job or not by looking at an advertisement. Many also want a job through direct interviews. This rate is 3.5 percent of the unemployed.

Other ways to find a job that emerged in the BBS survey are: submitting your resume to professional networks; registering with government employment centers; registering with private employment centers; looking for a job on the street; seeking financial assistance to start a business; seeking land and space for a business; applying for a business license, etc.

A senior official of BBS told the media that the unemployed look for various ways to get a job. They want a job or work by any means. They first approach their relatives and friends. The unemployed think that relatives and friends can help them. The trend of requesting jobs from uncles and relatives has been going on in this country for a long time.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) labor force survey, the number of unemployed people in Bangladesh by the end of 2024 is 2.624 million. The highest number of unemployed people is in Dhaka division. There are 687,000 unemployed people in this division. The next two places are in Chittagong and Rajshahi divisions respectively. According to the country’s divisions, 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.

According to 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 the past month and has not had the opportunity to work for one hour in the past week will be considered unemployed. This is the definition of international standards. But in the reality of Bangladesh, it is impossible to make a living by working for one hour a week. Meanwhile, there are about one crore people who have not found a job of their choice. They are considered as pseudo-employed.