Addressing the anomaly of jobless growth

Though Bangladesh achieved significant economic growth over the last two decades, still it could hardly show matching progress in terms of job creation.  To some economists such 'jobless growth' is a puzzle and they held high trade barriers as some of the reasons for such anomaly in the economy.  The issues came up nat a  recent seminar jointly organised by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and the World Bank, where  experts pointed out several reasons for this dichotomy. One is that the fresh graduates coming out of the education system lack the necessary skills to meet the needs of  the  country's many industrial and commercial establishments. Those include promising sectors like information technology (IT) and the apparels sector, which have been forced to import the requisite skilled manpower from abroad. So, there is greater need for increased investment in human capital and rejuvenating private sector growth "as key factors for local job creation."

Yet, the dearth in human capital remains largely unaddressed. Of late, there has been a realisation at the policy level that technical / vocational training is of great import if the country is to reskill the existing workforce and impart skills for young people coming of age. Yet, not much has happened in either setting up quality institutes nationwide because according to published data, around 800,000 graduates are entering the existing population of the unemployed each year. A full-fledged national skills development plan exists, but is it going about producing tangible results? That remains the billion-dollar question, since the country has an economy worth more than $500 billion a year.

The macroeconomic situation hasn't helped matters. There is the question of stubborn inflation and currency devaluation which have had its impact on the job market. While parallels have been drawn with India, the two countries are fundamentally different in some core areas. India had spent nearly the first four decades since independence in developing and honing its institutions and a large portion of its resources went into education. Bangladesh too had a good education system, but for whatever reason, this system has been allowed to wither away and in the absence of real quality control - the products out of the current education system are hopelessly out of touch with what is needed by the economy. Yes, Bangladesh has taken giant strides in reducing poverty and emerged as a global giant in one sector, i.e. RMG. Other sectors like footwear, pharmaceuticals look promising and are beginning to make their mark; but overall, it would be difficult to relish this success in its entirety since nearly a million foreign workers are engaged in key areas of production and management in the vibrant sectors of the economy.

Trade barriers, notably,  are an impediment. Regardless of regional economic unions and associations, non-tariff barriers continue to exist - both in terms of commerce and job opportunities. These have never been fully resolved. It is not possible for the country to address all its multifarious economic problems at once. It can however, revisit the way young people learn in this country. What can be done is to revamp the education system and develop a full-fledged parallel vocational and training sector that will equip the workforce suitably. Presently, the country largely exports "unskilled" manpower. It could earn many times more remittance, if the percentage of "skilled" manpower increased in the annual economic migrant population. That is where the focus and resources must be given and allocated, if Bangladesh wishes to solve the problem of foreign exchange and help pay for the development it so desires.