Let's start with a government job. The name of the post is Office Assistant. Educational qualification is SSC pass. Salary is in the twentieth grade. However, seventeen of the eighteen people appointed to this post in the Pabna district administration are highly educated. Some have BSC engineering degrees, some have MBAs, some have postgraduate degrees. About eight thousand people applied.
In addition to the unemployment of highly educated people, the problem is that even if they get a job, many are not getting work that is consistent with their educational qualifications. Almost half of highly educated job holders are in professions that do not require their full level of education. That is, on the one hand, there is a crisis of not getting a job and on the other hand, there is a problem of not getting a job according to their qualifications. The entire picture of unemployment cannot be explained by the lack of skills of young people alone.
Employers have emphasized the ability to solve ICT English communication problems and work in a team. However, the problem is not only in skills but also in the number of jobs. High-quality jobs have not been created at the same speed as people's educational qualifications have increased. Modern and skill-based industries have not expanded enough. As a result, the economy is not able to properly utilize a large portion of highly educated young people.
A real example of this is the recruitment of office assistants in Pabna. Five to six lakh applications are coming for a job position. Thousands of applications are also being received for office assistant positions. Artificial intelligence or AI is creating new pressure on the job market. The IMF has analyzed about 40 million online job advertisements from nineteen Asian economies.
It has been found that the demand for employment in professions where AI has a high impact has decreased by about thirteen percent compared to less affected professions. However, this is not the case for Bangladesh alone. At the same time, the demand for workers with AI-related skills is increasing. That is, it is not enough to just create new jobs, but the type of jobs is also changing.
Skills must also adapt to that change. The solution is therefore not one-sided. Communication between universities and industry must be increased. Internships, apprenticeships, market-oriented skills and good training are needed. In addition, investments and industries are needed where sufficient quality jobs will be created for highly educated youth.
In the meantime, the IMF has also reduced the economic growth forecast for Bangladesh. Overall, the crisis is not just about the lack of jobs. The big question is, is our economy able to create enough quality jobs to utilize the knowledge, education, and skills of the young people we have been educating for years?
Posted Using INLEO