The waiting generation

Every year, Bangladesh’s universities and colleges send thousands of young people into a labour market that cannot offer enough secure, decent jobs.

Yet many graduates return home to prepare for another recruitment test, accept work unrelated to their qualifications, or depend on parents long after they expected to support them. This prolonged wait is becoming one of the country’s most serious challenges.

The problem is not simply unemployment. It is the distance between young people’s aspirations and available opportunities.

A young person may be employed but earn too little to live independently, work without a contract, or move between short-term jobs without prospects of advancement.

Others stop searching after repeated rejection. Conventional unemployment figures cannot fully capture underemployment and lost confidence.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey 2024, the latest widely cited official survey, recorded youth unemployment at 8.07 per cent, up from 7.25 per cent in 2023.

The government also found that the share of young people not in education, employment or training rose from 18.9 to 20.3 per cent.

Unemployment among people with tertiary education increased to 13.54 per cent in 2024, from 13.11 per cent a year earlier.

These figures show that educational achievement does not guarantee access to work.

The scale of the challenge is clearer when the quality of employment is considered. The same official report estimated that 84 per cent of employment was informal in 2024.

The International Labour Organization’s labour market report for Bangladesh identifies rising self-employment, declining paid employment and falling real wages as trends weakening job quality, particularly for young people and women.

Bangladesh’s economy absorbs many workers in agriculture, small businesses and informal services, but these activities may not provide sufficient income or opportunities to use advanced qualifications.

The ILO analysis warns that employment has shifted back towards agriculture even as the economy has developed, while higher-productivity manufacturing and services have not absorbed enough workers.

This is a warning about job-light growth: production may expand without creating enough secure employment for educated entrants.

Public recruitment attracts many graduates because government jobs promise stable income, social status and retirement benefits. Competition for limited posts can consume years.

Private employment, meanwhile, may offer low starting salaries, long working hours and uncertain promotion.

The result is a queue: young people postpone other plans while preparing for examinations, and families continue financing them.

Their patience is often interpreted as personal choice, when it also reflects a shortage of credible alternatives.

The consequences reach beyond individual careers. Delayed employment can postpone marriage, housing decisions and financial independence. Families that borrowed to fund education may struggle to repay loans.

Parents who expected their adult children to contribute to household expenses instead continue supporting them.

Young people may experience shame, anxiety and failure, even when structural conditions-not lack of effort-limit their options.

First-generation graduates often lack professional contacts and family savings to cushion a prolonged search for work or training.

Young women face additional barriers. Social expectations, safety concerns, inadequate childcare and restrictions on mobility can limit access to training and paid work.

The State of the Economy 2025 report recorded a decline in female labour-force participation from 41.5 per cent in 2023 to 38.4 per cent in 2024.

This decline reinforces the need to address the practical barriers that keep women outside employment.

Training women without making workplaces safe, transport accessible, and care services affordable will not deliver equal opportunity.

A 2026 youth survey by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling and ActionAid Bangladesh reinforces the urgency.

It reports that more than 8.5 million young people are not in education, employment or training.

Based on two rounds of nationwide surveys involving more than 2,000 respondents, it also documents strong youth expectations for reform in education, employment and governance.

These findings matter because prolonged waiting can erode trust in institutions as well as household finances.

Bangladesh also risks wasting its demographic advantage. A large working-age population can support growth only when people find meaningful work and develop their capabilities.

If young people remain underemployed, leave because they see no future at home, or become disillusioned with institutions, the potential dividend becomes a missed opportunity.

Migration can be positive, but it should not be the only credible route to dignity and economic security.

Bangladesh needs a targeted employment strategy rather than another collection of training programmes.

First, the government should publish regular, disaggregated labour-market data tracking youth unemployment, underemployment, NEET rates, wages and job security.

Reliable evidence must guide spending and reveal whether policies are creating decent jobs.

Second, education and employment policy must be connected. Universities, technical institutions and employers should jointly develop curricula, expand paid apprenticeships and introduce work placements linked to actual vacancies.

Publicly funded training should be assessed by graduate employment and earnings, not enrolment or certificates alone.

Third, employment creation must become a measurable objective of economic policy.

Easier access to finance, predictable regulations and practical support for small and medium-sized enterprises can encourage firms to expand and recruit.

Public incentives should reward verified additional jobs, fair wages and formal contracts rather than business expansion without employment gains.

Fourth, removing barriers to women’s employment requires safer transport, affordable childcare, enforceable workplace protections and equal access to recruitment and promotion.

Employment services should also provide career guidance and job-matching support, particularly for first-generation graduates and young people outside major cities.

Finally, the government should establish a coordinated youth employment framework with clear targets, annual progress reports and meaningful youth representation.

Success must be measured not by the number of programmes launched, but by how many young people secure stable work, earn adequate incomes and become financially independent.

Bangladesh’s young people are not asking for guaranteed success or a government position for everyone.

They are asking for a fair chance to turn education, effort and talent into a stable future.

They cannot be told indefinitely to acquire another certificate, sit another examination or become more patient.

A country that invests in educating its youth must also build an economy capable of employing them. Otherwise, the wait itself becomes a national failure for the country.

(The writer is a researcher & development professional)