While 35.16% of Bangladesh's population fits into the category of youth, more than 87% of such individuals did not apply for any jobs in the last 12 months, a recent survey conducted by the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (Sanem) and supported by ActionAid revealed.
The survey classified youth as those in the 15-35 age group. The question was not asked of respondents who are fully employed or someone who is not willing to participate in any economic activity.
Remarkably, around 82% of respondents did not even have an updated CV or resume. Even more strikingly, only 55.6% said they knew how to send emails.
Slightly over 26% said they had submitted just one job application in the past 12 months, 17.68% submitted two and 20.12% applied for three positions. However, just over 45% of them never heard back.
Yet, over half the respondents cited nepotism or a lack of enough available jobs as the main barriers to getting a job. However, 52.62% also conceded that their general education was unsuitable.
Additionally, the study, titled "Youth in Transition: Navigating Jobs, Education, and Changing Political Scenario Post July Movement", found that the youth unemployment rate in Bangladesh currently stands at 13.85%, three times higher than the national average of 3.5%.
A further 22% of working-age youth, those aged 15-29, were categorised as not in education, employment or training (NEET).
With a sample size of more than 2,000 respondents over 16 districts, the study focused on the working-age youth in order to evaluate the current job market scenario.
Youth aspire for reforms, but remain divided on execution
The surveyed youth group identified labour market reforms and educational and institutional reforms as the top priority at this moment.
Interestingly, when asked about their expectations regarding future politics, 56.4% of respondents said it may improve gradually with reforms, while 3.3% believed it would improve significantly.
Just over 13% opined that things would remain the same regardless of reforms, while 11.3% said ongoing issues would only worsen the future situation. 15.9% of respondents did not share an opinion on the topic.
The report was made against the background of last year's mass uprising in July, which kicked off due to a quota system that restricted employment opportunities in public service, making an already competitive atmosphere more impenetrable.
It found that just over 78% personally held aspirations for change following the uprising.
Education sector not helping job preparedness, respondents say
The most popular aspiration was for an affordable, inclusive, modernised education sector, according to 72.8% of respondents.
This was punctuated by the fact that only around 16% believed that their education had either "very significantly" or '"significantly" prepared them for the job market. Just over 23% believed it had helped them "slightly", while nearly a third believed it had not helped them at all in this regard.
Around 12% of surveyed individuals said they had attended training courses in the past year, with around 49% opting for computer training.
Surprisingly, 57.3% of respondents said they had no interest in working abroad.
Around 42% said they were "not familiar at all" with freelancing or gig-based work, while around 17% said they had heard of it but did not know much.
Additionally, 47% said they were not interested in such jobs while 41% said they had not worked in the sector but were interested. Only 3.6% were currently active in the gig economy.
Additionally, 67.1% wanted a more affordable, accessible, and improved health sector, 65.4% demanded an end to political corruption and nepotism, and 59.7% sought a more robust judicial system.
Around 87% of respondents said social media was their usual source of information for national and international political updates while 47.7% said television was the main medium. Only 13% cited newspapers as their source of information.
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