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Unemployment problem of Bangladesh.

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 RESEARCH REPORT
Unemployment problem of Bangladesh.

Course: Research Methodology

BBA PROGRAM
Course Instructor
Dr. Md Akther Uddin
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Prepared by
Sajjad Hossain
Semester 7th
ID:180411014
Date of Submission: 09-06-20

1
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Description ...................................................................................................................................... 4
History of unemployment in Bangladesh .................................................................................... 4
Literature review ............................................................................................................................. 5
Cause of unemployment .............................................................................................................. 7
Nature of unemployment in Bangladesh ................................................................................... 10
Unemployment is turning into a serious issue .......................................................................... 11
District wise Unemployment ..................................................................................................... 11
Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 12
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 14
References ..................................................................................................................................... 15

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Introduction
Unemployment is a state in which a person does not have a source of income and may affect
people of any level of educational attainment (Chowdhury and Hossain, 2014). The problem of
unemployment has emerged as one of the most pressing concerns in every region of the world.
However, there is no other nation in the world that is facing a challenge that is comparable to
Bangladesh's. The vast majority of people in Bangladesh prefer to supplement their income
through doing jobs (Khan, 1985). There is a connection between being unemployed and being
poor. A worker is considered to be unemployed if they are unable to find work at a salary that is
acceptable to them. People are said to be unemployed when they are unable to find work in a
certain economy because there are insufficient vacancies available. A worker is considered to be
unemployed if they are looking for work and are willing to accept pay that is comparable to the
market average, but they are unable to find work. There are at least one million individuals in
Bangladesh who do not have jobs, according to estimates (Ahmed, 1974). There is a significant
problem with graduate-level unemployment in Bangladesh. The high unemployment rate in
Bangladesh is one of the factors that is holding back the country's economic development. It is
impossible for Bangladesh's economy to expand in the absence of a youthful and educated
population (Bin Rustam, 2020). Common factors that contribute to higher rates of unemployment
include demographic transitions, economic conditions, advances in technology, rising rates of
female labor force participation, greater production of electricity, and migration from rural to
urban areas (Islam and Sahajalal, 2019).

3
Description
History of unemployment in Bangladesh
For a considerable amount of time, the government of the United Kingdom was the leading
contributor to the unemployment rate in that country (Rahman, Farooq and Selim, 2021). After
the Mughol dynasty was overthrown, the British made their way to the subcontinent, where they
established themselves economically, and proceeded to plunder the area. They did not succeed in
starting any new businesses, which would have helped ease the labor crisis. Despite the fact that
a number of different enterprises were founded, every one of them was situated inside Indian
territory. After they had departed, the British abandoned the Bangladesh area, which led to it
falling into a condition of disrepair. Following the end of British authority in 1947, Pakistan
followed a similar criterion, which resulted in all kinds of industry being established in west
Pakistan rather than in east Pakistan. This occurred after the end of British administration in
Pakistan (Sajid and Sakib, 2021). The fight for independence began in 1971 as a direct response
to the monopolistic rule exercised by Pakistan. Following a struggle that lasted for nine months,
the nation was eventually divided and renamed Bangladesh after the portion of Pakistan that is
located to the east. Since the year 1971, when Bangladesh gained its independence from
Pakistan, the nation has been mired in the throes of a significant political crisis (Kalam, 2020).
Because of this, it is hard for any government to find a long-term solution to the problem of
unemployment. The political issues that Bangladesh is now facing are a contributing factor in the
country's high unemployment rate. Both the BNP and the Aowamileague, which are considered
to be two of the most prominent political parties in Japan, are solely focused on expanding their
political dominance. None of these parties is addressing the situation that the nation is now
facing with regard to unemployment (Mondal, 2016). Recent acts and attitudes shown by
political parties are quite unfriendly toward members of the general population. If one political
party achieves a majority in the House of Representatives, the other party in the chamber is
unable to concede defeat and does not take part in the legislative process in a manner that is to
the general public's advantage (Rashid and Islam, 2020). On the other hand, they have no right to
act in this manner at all. Even if there are some individuals who are dissatisfied with the outcome
of the election, the vast majority of people are pleased with it.

4
Literature review
There are many researches have done on this topic. Below a chart is given on the researches that
have done:
Author & Year Title of the paper Source Sample & Findings
Method
Hossain 2018. Agrarian Unpublished Ph. 320. Unemployment
Structure and D. dissertation, Quantitative. is slightly being
Land Cambridge reduced because
Productivity in University. of agriculture.
Bangladesh.
Huq 2011. Employment The Bangladesh 1000. There is
Generation of Journal of Quantitative. increasing
Cottage Political women
Industries and Economy. entrepreneurship.
Women: Role
and Strategy.
Khan 2015. Labour Use and Research Secondary data. Labor market is
Labour Market in proposal for Ph. Qualitative. shrinking
Bangladesh D. research, gradually.
Stanford
University.
Latif Ozturk and “Can International 200. There is positive
Ismail Aktar Unemployment Research Journal Quantitative. strong
2009, be Cured by of Finance and relationship
Economic Economics. between
Growth and economic growth
Foreign Direct and
Investment in unemployment.
Bangladesh?
Pallis 2006. The Trade-off International Secondary data. Trade can

5
 Between Research Journal Qualitative. influence
inflation and of Finance and unemployment
Unemployment Economics rate.
in New European
Union Member
States.
Foley 1997. Determinants of Economic 500. Unemployment
Unemployment Growth Center. Quantitative. rate has various
Duration in determinants.
Bangladesh.
Rudra 2019. Direct The Journal of 532. Agriculture is
Estimation of Business today. Quantitative. contributing to
Surplus Labour reduce the
in Agriculture. unemployment
rate.

6
Bangladesh unemployment rate:

Figure 1: Unemployment rate of Bangladesh (Rahman, 2015).

If we look at the graph that is above, we can see that the rate of unemployment in Bangladesh
has been quite low from 1999 to 2009. This is excellent news for Bangladesh at a period when
population growth was relatively slow. The rate of unemployment was very close to 3 percent.
Which is not an extremely high number. However, the rate of unemployment has been climbing
since 2009 (Khatun and Saadat, 2020). That's a difference of up to 4 percent. Which is seeing a
significant rise. The rate of unemployment is increasing as a direct result of the growing global
population. On the other hand, unemployment is expected to continue its upward trend far into
the year 2020. That comes out to 5.3 percent. Based on the graph, I am able to assert that the rate
of unemployment in Bangladesh is growing at an alarming rate. The unemployment rate is rising
steeply at an alarming pace (Hossain, 2021). It is possible for it to significantly rise in the future.
Cause of unemployment
There is a wide variety of factors contributing to the issue of unemployment. In the following, I
will highlight some of the factors that contribute to the unemployment crisis:

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Overpopulation: A higher population growth rate and overall overpopulation are the primary
contributors to the country of Bangladesh's high jobless rate. The number of people living here is
continuously rising. There are presently more than 18 million people living there (Akter, 2018).
This is a massive deal. When compared to the country's total population, Bangladesh suffers
from an investment shortfall. Because of the large population, many individuals are unable to
find work. Because of increased overpopulation, there is a shortage of available jobs. The impact
of overpopulation is being felt, and it is having a negative impact on progress.
Underdeveloped economy: The economy of Bangladesh is making strides toward growth. The
economy of Bangladesh is dependent on three things: remittances, the reserve money guarantee
program, and agriculture. The effects of overpopulation were felt in these four areas (Alam Nur
Alam and Hoque, 2020). Which is not in Bangladesh's best interest. Bangladesh has to innovate
in a wide variety of different labor areas in order to reduce the amount of strain exerted on such
sectors. After that, individuals will be hired.
Lack of capital: Because of the low per capita income, the people of Bangladesh have very little
savings. According to the government, the per capita income is rapidly increasing and is already
above 2500 USD. The truth, however, is rather different. The citizens are having trouble making
ends meet. Because of the prohibitively high cost of the daily essential goods. Because of their
poor income, people are unable to save money. They are unable to make investments in
emerging companies (Islam, 2019). They are seeking for employment with the company.
Because of this, the issue of unemployment is becoming worse.
Lack of technical education: There is a significant shortage of trained workers in Bangladesh.
The vast majority of individuals lack enough technical knowledge on the most recent
technological developments and skill sets (Islam and Das, 2022). The government of Bangladesh
is responsible for providing individuals with technical education.
Natural calamities: Many natural catastrophes befall the country of Bangladesh on an annual
basis. Bangladesh is being made uncomfortable by river erosion, flooding, and cyclones. These
natural calamities are causing disruptions to Bangladesh's investment. The Bangladeshi people
are very troubled by the natural calamities (Tanha, 2018).
Political instability: The Bangladeshi economy is being held back by political unrest. This
makes it difficult for Bangladesh to attract investment. Because of this, employment sectors

8
cannot continue to increase. It makes potential investors nervous about putting money into new
businesses (Shimu and Islam, 2018).
Agriculture dependency: Agriculture provides a living for the vast majority of Bangladesh's
population, either directly or indirectly. One of the most important industries that people rely on
is agriculture. It is unwise for Bangladesh to rely on just two or three industries (Shafiullah et al.,
2019).
RMG dependency: RMG industries have become very important to Bangladesh's economy. The
RMG industry employs the vast majority of Bangladeshi workers, including women and men.
Which is a pretty unsafe thing to do. The government is responsible for developing a wide
variety of fields for the public (SULTANA, 2020).
Corruption: There is evidence of corrupt practices in every industry in Bangladesh. It is causing
problems for the country's overall growth. There is evidence of corruption at every level of the
business process. The perception of disappointment among foreign investors is due to corruption
(Rehman, 2016).
Limited land: The gift that nature has given us is land. It never changes and there is no
possibility for it to increase as there is with population growth. Since the pace of population
growth in Bangladesh is quickly rising, there is not enough land to support the country's
expanding population. The land is under a great deal of strain. In more rural locations, the
majority of the population relies directly on the land for their means of subsistence (Rahman et
al., 2020). When compared to the number of people, there is a relatively restricted supply of
land. It makes the issue of unemployment prevalent for a significant number of people whose
livelihoods rely on agriculture.
Fragmentation of land: The vast population of Bangladesh exerts a significant amount of
pressure on the available land, which ultimately leads to the fragmentation of that area.
Agriculture has a significant challenge as a result of this factor. People whose livelihoods rely on
agriculture are struggling to find employment since the availability of farmland is shrinking and
agricultural labor is becoming more difficult (Haider, Shaon and Kabir, 2016).
Backward method of agriculture: Agriculture in Bangladesh is practiced in a manner that is
considered to be highly traditional. The farmers in the countryside continued to use the
traditional agricultural practices. As a consequence of this, the farmer is unable to adequately
nourish a large number of people with the products of his farm, and he is also unable to provide

9
his children an appropriate education or give them any kind of occupation (Huq, Howlader and
Kabir, 2014). It contributes to the issue of unemployment.
Defective education: The education that is received on a daily basis is really subpar, and it is
only verified inside the classroom setting. Only obtaining certification is the primary objective of
this endeavor. The current educational system does not focus on job preparation; rather, it
emphasizes earning a degree. It fails to meet requirements due to the fact that it is broader than it
is vocational. People who have received a general education are rendered incapable of doing any
kind of employment (Akter, 2020). They are to be referred to as useless on the ground due to the
fact that they are unable to have any kind of work here; yet, they may discover methods to
engage in self-employment. It is a contributing factor in both unemployment and
underemployment.
Above this, there are many causes of unemployment problem, which are:
• A lack of investment.
• There is a shortage of women in the workforce.
• People who are unyielding
• Absence of a well-defined industrial strategy
• Fiscal policy with a predictionary effect
• The lack of a strategy
• Human work is reduced as a result of advances in artificial intelligence.
Nature of unemployment in Bangladesh
It is common in rural regions of Bangladesh, particularly within the agricultural industry, and it
is referred regarded as "disguised unemployment." Every member of the family contributes to
the operation of the farm. Even if one or two members of the group are not actively contributing,
the overall output will not change (Uddin, Chowdhury and Hossain, 2014).
Regular unemployment: In Bangladesh, there are certain individuals who never find work
because they are either idle or do not receive positions that they are qualified for (Ahamed,
2021).
Seasonal unemployment: The agricultural industry relies heavily on temporary labor due to the
fact that employees are required only during the planting and harvesting processes.

10
Educated unemployment: Even if they have a certificate of completion from an educational
program, they do not meet the requirements necessary to be hired for an open position (Tribune,
2021).
Unemployment is turning into a serious issue
An investigation carried out by the International Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that
throughout the decade of the nineties, the pace of expansion of the jobless rate in Bangladesh
was 1.9%. However, the projected increase in the jobless rate in 2022 is 5.40 percent. People
who are gainfully employed not only draw resources from the economy, but they also contribute
to the economy by engaging in different forms of production and rendering a variety of services
(Ladd, Le, Gauthier and Werner, 2019). In contrast, those who are unable to find work must rely
solely on the support of their family, the government, or both. They are an insurmountable
obstacle for the government to overcome. Not only are they perceived to be liabilities from an
economic perspective, but also from a political and social one, they are seen as a source of stress
and unrest. It should come as no surprise that unemployment and crime are linked. Before the
situation becomes much worse, the various administrations in Bangladesh will need to confront
the problem of unemployment in a very serious manner (Muinuddin, Bari, and Islam, 2019).
Recent floods, which resulted in the layoff of employees from state-operated firms, contributed
significantly to the issue of unemployment. The government will be required to immediately
initiate a variety of new labor programs.
District wise Unemployment
In Bangladesh, the rate of unemployment varies significantly depending on the region. As a
result of the rivers in the northern districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions drying up, there is
a severe drought. As a result, many farmers and agricultural workers have been forced to seek
job elsewhere, and some have even been forced to change careers entirely (Hossain, Basak and
Majumder, 2013). In the 1970s, the districts of Sylhet struggled with significant employment
issues, which drove many of the region's residents to emigrate to the United Kingdom and other
nations. When the harvesting of JOOM was made illegal in the mountainous areas of Chittagong,
many of the traditional aboriginal farmers were forced to suffer temporary unemployment. This
was a difficult situation for them. After the ban on non-CNG cars was implemented in Dhaka,
many drivers fled to other districts in order to escape becoming unemployed (Rahman and
Rahman, 2017).

11
Recommendations
In order to enhance the investment situation, which, in turn, would accelerate economic activity
and have the intended influence on the unemployment situation, the government will need to
take inventive and effective action in connection to each of the elements listed above, as well as
other aspects. Additionally, there is a pressing need for transparency on the employment-creation
strategies that will be followed. The jobless will eventually be hired by new businesses (Rahman
and Hossen, 2019). The number of people who will be employed by businesses that rely heavily
on capital will be much lower than the number of people who will be employed by businesses
that rely heavily on labor. It is important to recognize and support businesses that have a
significant emphasis on human labor. It is possible for the government of Bangladesh to make a
significant contribution to the reduction of unemployment by also constructing and operating a
large number of training institutions. These institutions would provide unemployed people with
training in a variety of vocations, preparing them to either find employment in the country, find
employment outside the country, or engage in self-employment (Akter, 2018). Because of the
potential for poor returns on investment in this field, it is even more important for governments
to allocate large sums of money to training and education than it is for private sectors to do so.
Because of the high prices of skill training in the private sector, the majority of people who are
interested in receiving such training are likely to be disqualified from receiving it due to their
inability to pay for the instruction. It is vitally necessary for the government to play the function
of a skill teacher. People who complete the program and find work as a result of it may be
expected to make monthly payments to the government in the form of installments, allowing the
government to recoup the costs of the investments it will make in this field (Murshid, Mahmood
and Shashi, 2019). The following further actions may be taken by this government on a higher
level:
✓ Establishing facilities for independent work.
✓ Emancipation of all women and increased access to employment options.
✓ Open a center that provides information about available jobs.
✓ It is necessary to provide personnel with the appropriate training.
✓ Make accessible industrial inputs.
✓ Diversify the employees talents.

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✓ During times of high unemployment, social work programs like kabikha and kabita should be
carried out by the government.
✓ The government had to consent to the expansionary monetary policy as well as the
expansionary fiscal policy.
✓ Employers should invest in employees' academic and professional development.
✓ In remote regions, startup small businesses and cottage industries.
✓ In order to attract foreign direct investment, you need create an atmosphere that is favorable
to investment.

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Conclusions
A country is severely harmed when it has a high unemployment rate. We cannot expect the
progress of our country to continue while leaving millions of its people unemployed and for our
nation to continue to be proud of itself (Sharmin and Khandaker, 2015). It is imperative that we
put out our utmost effort to eradicate this blight. The purpose of this research's analysis is to try
to shed light on this phenomenon by concentrating on the capabilities and qualifications that are
seen as critical for the employability of graduates in Bangladesh's corporate entities (Dhar,
2020).

14
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