Concern about unemployment
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Bangladesh was recently reported to be in the twelfth position among the top twenty countries in the world where unemployment is rising. Although high unemployment has been a long-lingering problem here, and there are no quick fixes, high time the greatest attention was paid to it. The total number of the unemployed in Bangladesh is estimated at 35 million, according to some recent studies. It is feared that at this rate, unemployment could soar to a critical proportion by 2015. According to other estimates, every year some 2.7 million young persons are becoming eligible for jobs whereas only about 0.7 million of them are getting employment. The number of the disguised unemployed -- an economic term meaning underemployed people or employed to a degree less than their potential -- is estimated at some 32 per cent.
The large number of the unemployed and the underemployed in the workforce gives an idea of the number of the dependency ratio, in one way or other, among the country's population. Employed persons not only consume from the economy but they also contribute to it through production-oriented activities. The unemployed people in contrast only live off the economy or their families and society, not only being liabilities in the economic sense, politically and socially they are considered to be a source of tension and turmoil. The linkage between unemployment and crimes is obvious. Therefore, all governments in Bangladesh will need to address the unemployment issue very seriously indeed before it turns worse.
Insufficient investments have been frustrating the creation of new employment opportunities in Bangladesh. The government needs to identify each of the factors that can contribute to a better investment climate. The same should include improvement of energy supplies or greater availability of electricity and gas at the fastest. The supply of other related infrastructural support facilities and the institutional arrangements for upgrading the quality of human resources in order to turn them into quality assets, are also important matters in this context. All such issues should be properly addressed sooner rather than later. Fiscal and monetary policies that are truly business-friendly and help create level playing fields for local entrepreneurs in relation to foreign competitors, should also be put in place.
The authorities concerned will need to act imaginatively and effectively in relation to each of the above factors and more to improve the investment climate that, in turn, would help accelerate the pace of economic activities and make the desired impact on the unemployment situation. However, there is also a need to be clear about the policies to be pursued to create adequate number of new employment opportunities. New enterprises will absorb the unemployed. But capital intensive enterprises will employ a smaller number than labour intensive ones which will understandably employ a greater number. Thus, enterprises with labour intensive character should be identified and pro-actively encouraged.
The government can make a big contribution towards reducing unemployment by also building and operating a large number of training institutes to train the jobless in different vocations to make them fit enough to take up employment in the country, or abroad or to engage in self-employment. Ample public spending for skill development is, thus, all the more necessary because private sectors may not find it lucrative enough for investment. Thus, the role of the government, as a skill trainer, is critically important. It can expect to recover the cost of investments it will make in this area by receiving regular payments in instalments from people who would get jobs after such training.
The large number of the unemployed and the underemployed in the workforce gives an idea of the number of the dependency ratio, in one way or other, among the country's population. Employed persons not only consume from the economy but they also contribute to it through production-oriented activities. The unemployed people in contrast only live off the economy or their families and society, not only being liabilities in the economic sense, politically and socially they are considered to be a source of tension and turmoil. The linkage between unemployment and crimes is obvious. Therefore, all governments in Bangladesh will need to address the unemployment issue very seriously indeed before it turns worse.
Insufficient investments have been frustrating the creation of new employment opportunities in Bangladesh. The government needs to identify each of the factors that can contribute to a better investment climate. The same should include improvement of energy supplies or greater availability of electricity and gas at the fastest. The supply of other related infrastructural support facilities and the institutional arrangements for upgrading the quality of human resources in order to turn them into quality assets, are also important matters in this context. All such issues should be properly addressed sooner rather than later. Fiscal and monetary policies that are truly business-friendly and help create level playing fields for local entrepreneurs in relation to foreign competitors, should also be put in place.
The authorities concerned will need to act imaginatively and effectively in relation to each of the above factors and more to improve the investment climate that, in turn, would help accelerate the pace of economic activities and make the desired impact on the unemployment situation. However, there is also a need to be clear about the policies to be pursued to create adequate number of new employment opportunities. New enterprises will absorb the unemployed. But capital intensive enterprises will employ a smaller number than labour intensive ones which will understandably employ a greater number. Thus, enterprises with labour intensive character should be identified and pro-actively encouraged.
The government can make a big contribution towards reducing unemployment by also building and operating a large number of training institutes to train the jobless in different vocations to make them fit enough to take up employment in the country, or abroad or to engage in self-employment. Ample public spending for skill development is, thus, all the more necessary because private sectors may not find it lucrative enough for investment. Thus, the role of the government, as a skill trainer, is critically important. It can expect to recover the cost of investments it will make in this area by receiving regular payments in instalments from people who would get jobs after such training.