Keeping job market resilient in the face of recession
Thursday, 16 April 2009
THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has cautioned that Bangladesh will be facing pressure in the domestic market due to the return of the migrant workers from abroad. The reason, as everyone knows, is ongoing recession, which has impacted the host countries where Bangladeshi workers are employed severely. A good number of Bangladeshi workers have already started to return from some of the Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries. In the first quarter of this year, some 22,000 Bangladeshi workers, according to available reports, returned home mainly from Dubai, the coveted destination of the Bangladeshi workers in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's manpower export has, in terms of outflows, shown a negative trend in the first quarter of this year compared to what it was a year before. The government officials concerned say, the drop in manpower export is 38 per cent of last year's figure at 875, 000. If the trend continues and the decline reaches as high as 50 per cent at the year end, that is going to be rather alarming for the country, especially for the local job market.
The ILO's prognostication is, therefore, a pointer to the developments obtaining in the manpower export sector in the days ahead. That, in other words, means that in the coming days, fewer workers will be able to leave the country, thus depriving the economy of the benefit of the previously growing homebound remittance. To make things worse, the returning migrant workers will be joining the ranks of the unemployed people already at home. The existing job market, which has no reason to expand in the meanwhile, would certainly be hard put to rehabilitate the returnee migrant workers into it.
However, the ILO has given assurance that, with their skill and capital, they may become a real asset for the job market. But such a prospect will depend largely on the government's policy about the returnees as well as its capacity to tap the returning migrant workers' potential efficiently. On this score, the government will have to take a policy of giving necessary orientation to the returning workers about the domestic job market so that they might find their prospective employers without much delay. Or if some of them, who are enterprising, have the capacity and are also willing to create opportunities for their own employment as well as for others, the government should be all help to them. They would then become an asset and not a burden for the country.
The government will have to take both short-term and long-term measures to create employment opportunities for the unemployed workforce of the country. On this score, it should arrange training to upgrade the unskilled members of the unemployed into semi-skilled ones at least. This will enhance their employment potential both at home and abroad. The areas where the future potential of the job market lies are, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, ceramics, transport equipment and information technology, among others, as suggested by the ILO executive.
As it meets the demand of about 150 million consumers, the potential of Bangladesh's domestic market is huge. This is its source of strength, which can help it to live through the likely fall-out from the global recession. So, while preparing the various strategies to cope with the situation arising out of the global recession, which is yet to crash against Bangladesh's shores directly, the government would do well to keep this factor into account. That will help to avoid unnecessary panic and face the economic downturn at home, if any, with enough confidence. Though the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, is still confident that the economy will continue to maintain its steady growth at 6.0 per cent even in this year of recession, the World Bank's forecast at 4.5 per cent, however, is somewhat depressing. Therefore, it will be important to identify the areas of the economy with the highest growth potential. Admittedly, agriculture has a very huge prospect, which has to be properly explored along with other formal and informal sectors.
The ILO's prognostication is, therefore, a pointer to the developments obtaining in the manpower export sector in the days ahead. That, in other words, means that in the coming days, fewer workers will be able to leave the country, thus depriving the economy of the benefit of the previously growing homebound remittance. To make things worse, the returning migrant workers will be joining the ranks of the unemployed people already at home. The existing job market, which has no reason to expand in the meanwhile, would certainly be hard put to rehabilitate the returnee migrant workers into it.
However, the ILO has given assurance that, with their skill and capital, they may become a real asset for the job market. But such a prospect will depend largely on the government's policy about the returnees as well as its capacity to tap the returning migrant workers' potential efficiently. On this score, the government will have to take a policy of giving necessary orientation to the returning workers about the domestic job market so that they might find their prospective employers without much delay. Or if some of them, who are enterprising, have the capacity and are also willing to create opportunities for their own employment as well as for others, the government should be all help to them. They would then become an asset and not a burden for the country.
The government will have to take both short-term and long-term measures to create employment opportunities for the unemployed workforce of the country. On this score, it should arrange training to upgrade the unskilled members of the unemployed into semi-skilled ones at least. This will enhance their employment potential both at home and abroad. The areas where the future potential of the job market lies are, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, ceramics, transport equipment and information technology, among others, as suggested by the ILO executive.
As it meets the demand of about 150 million consumers, the potential of Bangladesh's domestic market is huge. This is its source of strength, which can help it to live through the likely fall-out from the global recession. So, while preparing the various strategies to cope with the situation arising out of the global recession, which is yet to crash against Bangladesh's shores directly, the government would do well to keep this factor into account. That will help to avoid unnecessary panic and face the economic downturn at home, if any, with enough confidence. Though the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, is still confident that the economy will continue to maintain its steady growth at 6.0 per cent even in this year of recession, the World Bank's forecast at 4.5 per cent, however, is somewhat depressing. Therefore, it will be important to identify the areas of the economy with the highest growth potential. Admittedly, agriculture has a very huge prospect, which has to be properly explored along with other formal and informal sectors.