The global outbreak of Covid-19 has not left a single sector unharmed and the educational sector has faced a significant chunk of its effect.
In accordance with the government, all educational institutes closed down from March 17, 2020 -- the students all over the country left in a cloud of uncertainty and a lot of unanswered questions.
A number of students in Bangladesh are due to be graduated in 2020 and aspire to enter the job market. Now, many companies are going into hiring freeze and lay-offs, while some have declined offers made to candidates.
Campus recruitment and internship are going to be held. While the immediate career path looks difficult and bleak for the fresh young talents, they could utilize this as learning. Someone who is going to succeed in a post-corona virus-world will need to be able to adapt to ever-evolving workplace and have the ability to continuously update and refresh their skills.
Economists highly recommend launching nationwide skill development training program 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 corona virus crisis.
When contacted, the State Minister for Public Administration, Farhad Hossain told, "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 this 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 program 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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Our young generation needs to internalize learning very well. Job cut is inevitable. Finding regular jobs will be difficult for fresh graduates.
Competition for white collar jobs will be fierce. As working from home has become a norm, a salary cut will also happen. These should not frustrate the younger generation.
They should prepare themselves for these changes. Covid-19 will also bring lots of opportunities for our service industry. They should change their mindset set from getting a job to being an entrepreneur.
They should use phones to cultivate their useful networks for opportunity rather than spending hours in social media. Our young generation should practice the habit of a healthy diet and regular exercise as well. These will boost up their morale.
The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at :
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