Is there any good news for job-seekers?

A record 5 lakh vacancies in the government offices does not offer much good news for educated youths while recruitment remains slow in the private sector that saw job cuts in recent times.

There is no crash programme to fill in the empty government positions with public service-oriented ministries – health and primary education – having the largest number of vacancies.

Of roughly 22 lakh youths entering the country's job market every year, only a few thousand make it to the most sought-after government positions through a lengthy process, from circular to appointment, which takes months, even years.

Infographic: TBS

Covid-19 slowed it further, resulting in a backlog of BCS enrolment, the gateway to the civil service, diminishing hopes of university graduates to qualify for a few cadre posts routinely opened every year.

The private sector, the last resort of millions of youths for securing bread and butter, also paints a grim picture.   

A leading job site, Bdjobs.com, records a decline in job postings in the private sector the first three months of this year compared to 2022, when the job market showed a rebound from the pandemic-time downtrend.

From 3,400 jobs posted in 2020 March, the number jumped to 6,800 in March 2022 before falling to 6,000 in March this year.

AKM Fahim Masroor, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Bdjobs, said, job advertisements went down by 30% between October last year and April this year.

Infographic: TBS

Though the situation has improved slightly in May from April, it is still far away from the normal time because of the ongoing onslaught of the Russia-Ukraine war and its consequences on inflation and dollar crisis.

"Some organisations are cutting jobs, some have stopped hiring. Job cuts are very common in SMEs," said Masroor.

Sector-wise data is not recorded by any government or private agency, and BBS data that shows unemployment rate declining to 3.6% in 2022 from 4.2% reported in 2016-17 on the growing participation of youths and women do not tell the real story.

In BBS counts, only 26.30 lakh people are unemployed in the country now. But studies say over 22 lakh youths are entering the job markets every year afresh and one-third of them are university graduates.

Over the past three years, the private sector, responsible for approximately 90% of employment, has faced numerous challenges. 
Initially, the pandemic disrupted operations, followed by the Russia-Ukraine war, triggering a dollar crisis, high inflation, and declining demand in the West. 

These circumstances have compelled many businesses to downsize their workforce or postpone expansion plans.

Moreover, individuals inclined towards government jobs will find no respite, as the number of vacant positions has soared to a record 5,00,000. The government's sluggishness in hiring personnel to fill these positions, as outlined in the organograms of various public offices, further exacerbates the situation.

The current situation presents a daunting challenge for the approximately 2.2 million young individuals entering the job market annually. While day labourers may still find ways to secure employment, educated youths encounter increasing difficulties in finding suitable and respectable jobs.

Apparel sector 

The apparel industry, which serves as the largest employer within the manufacturing sector, has experienced a significant decline in job creation over the past several months. 

This can be attributed to the industry operating at around 30% lower order capacity, industry insiders said. Furthermore, the increase in utility prices has added to their overhead costs.

In light of the gloomy export order situation, some factories have been compelled to reduce positions that are not essential. 
Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the sector's ability to create new jobs has almost come to a halt due to the prevailing order situation. 

Also, some workers are being laid off in instances where they have been employed for an extended period.

Despite the challenges posed by utility price hikes and gas and electricity shortages, apparel exporters are struggling to meet shipment deadlines. 

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA), noted that the apparel industry is currently operating with reduced orders, resulting in minimal demand for new workers. 

He also expressed concern that following Eid al-Adha, several factories may need to cut jobs to manage their operational costs.

Conglomerate, steel mills, shipbreakers

According to Mohamed Ali Hossain, management director of PHP Family, their company managed to retain all employees and maintain salaries during the Covid-19 pandemic without any job cuts. 

However, they refrained from recruiting new staff. Presently, another crisis, namely the Russia-Ukraine war, is ongoing, further impacting their operations. 

"As a result, PHP Family is closely monitoring the situation and has put a halt on expansion plans," Iqbal told The Business Standard.
Despite the pandemic, PHP established HM Steel Mill and employed 1,100 individuals. Unfortunately, they are now facing challenges such as a decrease in production by 30% due to shortages of raw materials and energy. 

Mohammad Sarwar Alam, director of HM Steel, foresees no immediate improvement in this situation. To minimise losses, the company has had to reduce the number of casual workers by 10-15%.

Mohammad Sekander Hossain, chairman & CEO of KR Steel Structure Limited, said the electricity crisis has resulted in a 40% decrease in their factory's production. 

If this trend persists, the factory may have to cease operations, leaving 300 employees jobless. Additionally, the raw material crisis has led to a 30% reduction in jobs within their shipbreaking and oxygen plant.

The shipbreaking, steel, and oxygen plants in Chittagong have been severely affected by the pandemic and the Ukraine war, along with the associated crises surrounding raw materials, the dollar, and energy shortages. 

Over the past three and a half years, more than 80 establishments in these sectors have ceased production, resulting in a loss of employment for approximately 50,000 workers.

According to the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (BSBA), since 2020, at least 70 shipbreaking yards have suspended their operations due to the cumulative impact of Covid, the Ukraine was, and other ongoing crises, leading to the displacement of nearly 22,000 workers.

M Manzur Alam, the president of the Chittagong Steel Re-rolling Mills Owners Association, said out of the 50 steel mills in Chittagong, 43 have shut down due to an inability to align production costs with selling prices. 

Consequently, approximately 30,000 workers have become unemployed.

Despite the establishment of nearly 15 oxygen plants in Chittagong in the past, eight of them have closed down in the last two years, further exacerbating the situation.

SME

Since the beginning of the coronavirus, the SME sector has been facing a critical situation. Although there was some recovery in this sector after the pandemic, many SMEs have been closed due to the gas and electricity crisis. 

As a result, new job creation in the SME sector has come to a complete halt, and many people are losing their jobs, according to Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon, president of the National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB). 

Due to the existing economic situation, many entrepreneurs are not investing, which further hinders the creation of new employment opportunities. "The possibility of establishing new job opportunities in the SME sector is unlikely until the electricity and gas crisis is resolved," he said.

He mentioned that NASCIB has 20,000 members, and approximately 25-30% of entrepreneurs have closed their businesses. Many others are also on the path of closure.

Banks

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many banks to downsize their branch operations and go digital, which impacted fresh recruitments. Many banks are opening up sub-branches with two to three personnel instead of a traditional branch with over a dozen people.

The Bankers' Selection Committee is responsible for recruiting personnel in government banks and financial institutions. Currently, through the Committee, recruitment is underway for 3,917 positions based on the 2019 circular.

In the years 2020 and 2021, there have been 12,519 vacant positions in government banks and financial institutions.

After the completion of the recruitment in 2019, the process for the next two years will commence upon receiving the demand letters, officials said.

Jobs in IT

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) President Russel T Ahmed said, the IT sector is a unique case right now where demand for quality graduates is widely unmet.

"Anyone who learns the skill of software making is employed in the country. And the software industry already created 3 lakh graduate jobs, more than one third higher than the pre-pandemic level."

A larger number of youth are working online as freelancers to make the country the second largest source of online workers.

IT firms, in fact, are struggling to get the right people as the industry-academia gap is too wide, he said, adding that the industry was in a position to create over a million jobs in coming years if the skilled manpower problem goes away.

Several software firms won in international tenders and later lost the opportunities only because of manpower shortage.

The world's biggest software industries were in serious shortage of manpower, and Bangladesh could grab the opportunity through addressing the issues, he added.

There had been a lower double digit growth in software industry recruitment on average and it should be triple or even more, said Ahmed. 

Public sector

According to official data, by the end of 2022, there were 5,03,333 vacant posts across ministries, divisions, departments, corporations, commissions, and other government offices. 

In stark contrast, the country currently has over 26 lakh actively unemployed individuals. However, due to a lack of government circulars, these vacant positions have not been filled from this substantial pool of job seekers.

The number of vacant posts started to surge during the pandemic when recruitment processes were suspended. 

Several ministries, departments, directorates, and other government offices have recently published recruitment circulars, but the recruitment process for most of these institutions, including accepting applications, conducting screenings, and multiple tests, typically takes around one to one-and-a-half years.

Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, secretary of Public Administration, said that there are no immediate plans for a crash programme to fill the vacant posts. 

However, the ministries, departments, and other concerned organisations are being consistently urged to prioritise filling these vacancies, he added.  

Experts have pointed out that the high number of vacancies in state institutions hampers their ability to provide essential services in crucial sectors such as health, education, communication, and agricultural production. 

This situation also leads to delays in formulating laws and policies and inadequate monitoring processes.

Former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder stressed the urgency of filling vacant positions promptly, highlighting how insufficient manpower adversely affects the efficiency and quality of services in government departments. 

He suggested that if excessive operational costs pose a hindrance to filling all vacant posts, it may be necessary to reduce the number of positions accordingly. 

While acknowledging the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on employment opportunities within government institutions, he urged the authorities to address the existing vacancies urgently now that the pandemic situation is under control.

Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, economics professor at the University of Dhaka, said due to the effects of Covid, the dollar crisis, and high energy prices, the industrial sector has not expanded. Moreover, no significant work has been done to target employment generation. 

She said budgetary allocations should have been made to increase employment, considering the smaller sectors and providing greater incentives for employment generation. 

However, this has not been done, she said, creating a roadmap for employment generation is necessary.