Rising Educated Unemployment Sparks Calls for Job Creation

EVERY year, hundreds of thousands of young men and women enter the labour market with higher education degrees, yet they fail to find employment that matches the demand. In recent years, this has been the harsh reality for countries like ours.

Citing research by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a national newspaper has reported that approximately 36 percent of highly educated youths aged 15 to 24 in the country are unemployed.

Even more concerning is the fact that, while the country’s overall youth unemployment rate stands at approximately 10 percent, the unemployment rate among highly educated youth is three and a half times higher.

This research report was published in the September issue of the IMF’s “Finance and Development” magazine.

It also analyzes the youth unemployment situation across various Asian countries.

The findings reveal that while unemployment is a major issue throughout Asia, the highest rates are observed among highly educated young people.

According to the report, in South Asia, Sri Lanka records the highest unemployment rate for this demographic, at approximately 43 percent; the rate is around 42 percent in India and 36 percent in Bangladesh.

On the other hand, the rate is comparatively lower in Southeast Asian countries.

About 18 percent of highly educated youth are unemployed in Indonesia, 16 percent in Vietnam, 13 percent each in Malaysia and Thailand, and about 12 percent in the Philippines. In Singapore, this rate is around 8 percent.

The report identifies the mismatch between education and the job market as the reason for unemployment among educated youth in Bangladesh.

The IMF has termed this situation a “graduate glut”-a problem of producing an excess number of graduates. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a new challenge alongside this.

The IMF states that artificial intelligence can boost productivity; however, if this technology is adopted too rapidly-outpacing the development of necessary skills-it could place increased pressure on the youth labour market.

The certificate-oriented education system, in particular, has placed our young generation in a precarious situation.

On one hand, a young person spends vast sums of money on higher education, hoping to secure a good job in the future; families, too, sacrifice everything to ensure their children’s success.

Yet, upon completing their studies, they often find that there are no jobs available.
We believe that any situation can be tackled by moving forward with a sustainable plan.

Alongside reforms in the country’s education sector, focus could be placed on enhancing the multifaceted skills of the youth.

However, there is no alternative to increasing employment opportunities; the government must take the necessary steps to achieve this.