Youth Unemployment in Bangladesh: A Growing Challenge and the Role of Social Enterprises

Bangladesh suffers severe levels of youth unemployment despite the fact that more than one-third of its population is aged between 15 and 29 years. The increased number of young people in the workforce provides a distinct issue for Bangladesh. If the problem is not tackled well the young population may end up doing more harm than good. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) reports a sad 11.3% youth unemployment in 2023. There is an ever-widening difference between the employment needs of Bangladesh versus the swelling number of graduates and school leavers in the country. In such a situation, social enterprises prove to be relevant, and new approaches to youth unemployment problem-solving and boosting social progress are emerging.

Understanding the Youth Unemployment Crisis

Bangladesh is undergoing a change in demographics as more people as entering the work force yearly. According to BBS, almost 32.5 percent of the Bangladeshi people are of the age between 15-29 years. This change in population has the potential to market the arrival of ‘demographic dividend’, but it brings with itself major challenges, particularly in terms of job opportunities for youth. Every year, the educational institutions of Bangladesh fling numerous graduates onto labor market; however, the labor market cannot accept such quick surge in the number of job seekers. When such young people get through their studies many of them face the challenge of finding suitable employment to match their education levels hence rise in the numbers of unemployed youths. In 2023, 11.3% of age 15-29 bracket were jobless. Such big youth unemployment is ironic because it has implications on not only economic health but also the mental and social growth of young people. The youth unemployment has a broad and severe impact on the economy. The result is that bright young educated individuals are left with no chances of applying their expertise. In addition, long leaves from work may lead to emotional issues, sense of hopelessness and increased social clashes. The urgency of dealing with this problem is significant for the government, as well as for other main participants in society.

Challenges Faced by the Traditional Job Market

The main cause of youth unemployment in Bangladesh is that often the skills of young people do not correspond to the requirements of the job market. It is notable that the knowledge and understanding of graduates do not meet the requirements for modern job openings. When such industries as IT, engineering, or healthcare grow, the education system can typically not give students the skillsets they need for these industries. Albeit beyond the skills deficiencies, the traditional employment sector fails to expand fast enough to cope with the needs of the expanding youth work force. Large companies and governments are failing to generate enough entry jobs leaving less prepared young people without the background to compete for higher positions. As a result, the youth are either getting employed in part-time or short-term working arrangement or acquiring jobs that only provide low wage and job security. Economic struggling and job reduction in many industries were exacerbated by the pandemic that exposed young workers to new and severe challenges. Fortunately, because many businesses were shut down or downsized, getting a job was already difficult. It has been observed by International Labour Organization (ILO) that worldwide, during the pandemic, there has been an increase in youth unemployment, in countries such as Bangladesh. Following this, a large number of young people became unemployed and with little prospect of re-entering the streams of work.

Social Enterprises: A Solution to Youth Unemployment

Social enterprises have found solace with diminishing employment opportunities for youth in Bangladesh. Social enterprises want to contribute to the positive changes in society without losing the potential revenue and profits that their activities generate. Unlike the traditional businesses that eventually aim to produce profits, social enterprises try to address common social issues, while maintaining a long-term financial viability. These organizations promote the empowerment of young people through employment, application-oriented education, and access to getting their businesses started. Focusing on their social purpose, these organizations help to bridge the disparity between the level of education obtained by young people and job opportunities through a wide range of support services that facilitate employment of the young people. Social enterprises are excellent at providing on-the-job trainings and development courses that are directly in line with job requirements. In Bangladesh, different social enterprises serve industry needs with training programs in digital marketing, coding, and agriculture. Apart from enhancing the employability level of youth, such programs catalyse entrepreneurial spirit which make youth venture out and open their own mini-business and create employment for others. Social enterprises are actively partnering with local communities that offer them customized programs to fulfil the peculiar needs of each region. Such customized methods increase the chances that the skills acquired in these programs are required by the employers in the community. For example, rural social enterprises tend to did people for such agriculture-oriented programs whereas those based in urban areas tend to do so when it comes to IT and business development needs.

Examples of Successful Social Enterprises in Bangladesh

Bangladesh social enterprise has greatly contributed towards reducing youth unemployment by offering work and support to entrepreneurial ventures. JAAGO Foundation is one of the instances which provides educational and vocational training to young people in disadvantaged backgrounds. Through offering exhaustive training in computer programming, entrepreneurship, and in English language, the foundation has helped thousands of young people to get better employment opportunities. BRAC is one of the world’s most favored and prestigious social enterprises and it is an example of effective responses to youth unemployment. Using its broad collection of services, BRAC addresses youth unemployment particularly through its youth development program that teaches youth valuable skills for employment. Through partnership with private sector companies, BRAC provides internship and apprenticeship in order to prepare youth with practical experience and make them more employable. Another successful model is YOUTHFUL, an organisation that supports the youth entrepreneurship. With mentorship, fundings support and skills training, the organization enables young entrepreneurs to grow and deploy sustainable businesses. YOUTHFUL works towards creating an environment of self-empowerment for young people trying to pursue successful career paths by networking them with valuable resources.

Social enterprises play a huge role in addressing youth unemployment, but the government must also support the creation of an environment that promotes their development and makes them more effective. The government has to adopt measures that will stir growth of social enterprises and ensure their long-term financial stability. The government may push individuals into either becoming workers for social enterprises or creating their own by offering incentives, such as tax credits, grants, and subsidies that promote endeavors to help young people find jobs and learn new skills. Also, encouraging public private partnerships will enable the government, the private sector and social enterprises to interact together successfully. Such an approach would support a comprehensive strategy to deal with youth unemployment and make young people employment-ready. Besides, the government has to improve the educational system so as to better align its curriculum to the requirements of the job market. Such efforts involve financing vocational and technical trainings initiatives and convincing young people to adopt entrepreneurship.

Conclusion: The Path Forward

The job market prepared for conventional employment cannot now garner enough opportunities for an ever-growing population of younger individuals, and the disparity between education and job readiness is widening. However, social enterprises have risen to the challenge of generating job opportunities, skills improvement, and providing entrepreneurship training for young people. The government needs to play a leading role in developing policies to advance the growth and sustainability of social enterprises if they are to effectively support the elimination of youth unemployment. A synergistic strategy based on government policies, private investments and social enterprise innovation can help Bangladesh turn its young population into an engine of economic development, the young people with access to skills, opportunities and resources for a better future.


Dr. Rubel Amin is the Head of
Supply Chain Management at
Standard MH Group
Limited, Bangladesh.