Bangladesh’s job market is shrinking 

Every year, World Population Day reminds us that population is ultimately about people, not numbers. This year's theme, "Realizing the hopes and aspirations of young people, today and for the future," asks a simple but profound question: Are countries creating opportunities for young people to build the lives they want? For Bangladesh, the answer is becoming uncomfortable. The country has one of the youngest populations in Asia and one of history's largest working-age populations. Yet for millions of young Bangladeshis, education no longer guarantees opportunity, talent no longer guarantees employment, and ambition increasingly leads to either a BCS coaching centre or a boarding pass abroad.

Bangladesh is home to around 171 million people. Nearly 40 per cent are below the age of 25, while more than two-thirds belong to the working-age population. The median age is about 27 years, compared with the global median of around 31 years. Every year, almost two million young Bangladeshis enter working age. Demographers call this a demographic dividend, the period when the working-age population substantially exceeds the dependent population, creating exceptional opportunities for economic growth.

Bangladesh has expanded school and university enrolment rapidly, but quality has failed to keep pace with the demands of a fast-changing economy. Employers increasingly seek graduates with digital literacy, analytical thinking, communication skills, creativity and the ability to solve complex problems. Yet much of the education system remains centred on examinations and memorisation rather than practical learning.

Every year, almost two million young Bangladeshis enter working age. Demographers call this a demographic dividend, the period when the working-age population substantially exceeds the dependent population, creating exceptional opportunities for economic growth.Every year, almost two million young Bangladeshis enter working age. Demographers call this a demographic dividend, the period when the working-age population substantially exceeds the dependent population, creating exceptional opportunities for economic growth.

The labour market reflects these weaknesses. Graduate unemployment remains several times higher than the national average, while many more graduates work in jobs unrelated to their qualifications or remain underemployed. This is more than personal disappointment; it is a substantial loss of human capital. Bangladesh has invested in producing educated young people but has not created enough productive opportunities to use their knowledge.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of graduates devote years to preparing for highly competitive government recruitment examinations despite the low probability of success. Graduates from medicine, engineering, agriculture, business, law and the social sciences all compete for the same limited BCS cadre positions instead of building careers in the professions for which they trained. Their behaviour is rational. When one pathway is widely viewed as the only reliable route to financial security and social mobility, young people naturally pursue it.

The real problem, therefore, is not an excessive desire for government jobs but the absence of sufficiently attractive alternatives. A healthy economy provides multiple respected pathways to success through industry, entrepreneurship, research, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture and the creative economy. Bangladesh has expanded higher education far more rapidly than it has expanded high-quality employment, leaving many graduates waiting rather than working during some of the most productive years of their lives.

Many others no longer wait. Overseas education and international employment have become increasingly attractive options for ambitious young Bangladeshis. The number of students pursuing higher education abroad has risen sharply over the past decade, and overseas migration keeps growing. This movement is often described as brain drain, but it is equally an aspiration drain. Many young people leave not because they lack commitment to Bangladesh, but because they believe their education, skills and hard work will receive greater recognition elsewhere.

The country therefore faces a painful contradiction. Bangladesh produces graduates who cannot find jobs, while employers simultaneously report shortages of skilled workers in sectors critical to future economic growth. The gap is not simply between education and employment. It is between what young people are prepared to contribute and what the economy is prepared to offer.

The challenge is even greater for young women. Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in girls' education, yet female labour force participation remains far below that of men. Barriers related to workplace conditions, childcare, transport, safety and unequal career opportunities continue to keep many educated women out of the workforce. No country can fully realise its demographic dividend while underutilising half of its young talent.

World Population Day reminds us that population policies are ultimately about expanding people's opportunities. Bangladesh still possesses one of its greatest development assets: millions of talented, ambitious and resilient young people. But the demographic window that created this opportunity is closing rapidly. If today's graduates continue to see only two credible futures, years of waiting for a government job or building a life elsewhere, the country will not simply lose its demographic dividend. It will lose the generation that was meant to transform it.