Youth struggle to find jobs one year post-uprising

The Star

6 days ago

A year after an uprising forced the Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh out of power, challenges persist to address the severe lack of jobs among youth who took their grievances to the streets.
The uprising, in which some 1,400 people were killed, according to the United Nations, was sparked by the issue of quota reservations in civil service recruitment tests.
Since the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over, a broad agenda of reform has been drawn up, but experts say a lack of opportunities for the young workforce remains a problem.
'Amid jobless growth faced by the country's youth, a fair chance at civil service recruitment tests became a rallying cry,' said Tuhin Khan, a leading activist in the quota reform movement and the July uprising. 'But since then, we have not seen enough meaningful focus from the government on the economic pressures faced by ordinary people as politics took center stage,' he added.
About 30% of Bangladeshi youth are neither employed nor in school or training, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Also, about 23% of young women are unemployed compared with 15% of young men.
The protesters ranged from graduate students seeking government jobs to balloon sellers, as segments of the urban poor demanded better, more dignified lives, said Maha Mirza, a researcher who teaches economics at Jahangirnagar University.
But the creation of decent jobs depends upon jump-starting investment, which may have to wait for an elected government to be sworn in, said Rashed Al Mahmood Titumir, a professor of Development Studies at Dhaka University.
'When we have a stable policy regime, there would be more investment, and that will bring in the much-needed jobs for young people, including graduates and women,' he said. — Reuters
A year after an uprising forced the Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh out of power, challenges persist to address the severe lack of jobs among youth who took their grievances to the streets.
The uprising, in which some 1,400 people were killed, according to the United Nations, was sparked by the issue of quota reservations in civil service recruitment tests.
Since the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over, a broad agenda of reform has been drawn up, but experts say a lack of opportunities for the young workforce remains a problem.
'Amid jobless growth faced by the country's youth, a fair chance at civil service recruitment tests became a rallying cry,' said Tuhin Khan, a leading activist in the quota reform movement and the July uprising. 'But since then, we have not seen enough meaningful focus from the government on the economic pressures faced by ordinary people as politics took center stage,' he added.
About 30% of Bangladeshi youth are neither employed nor in school or training, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Also, about 23% of young women are unemployed compared with 15% of young men.
The protesters ranged from graduate students seeking government jobs to balloon sellers, as segments of the urban poor demanded better, more dignified lives, said Maha Mirza, a researcher who teaches economics at Jahangirnagar University.
But the creation of decent jobs depends upon jump-starting investment, which may have to wait for an elected government to be sworn in, said Rashed Al Mahmood Titumir, a professor of Development Studies at Dhaka University.
'When we have a stable policy regime, there would be more investment, and that will bring in the much-needed jobs for young people, including graduates and women,' he said. — Reuters