Degrees without jobs: nearly 900,000 highly educated unemployed in Bangladesh, IMF puts youth rate at 29 percent
A university degree no longer guarantees a job in Bangladesh, and the scale of the problem is growing. A report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says about 29 percent of highly educated young people in the country are unemployed. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) latest Labour Force Survey 2024, of about 2.624 million unemployed people that year, about 885,000 held university degrees.
One face of the crisis is Mezbah Ahmed. Since earning a master's degree in mathematics from a public university in 2024, he has been preparing for jobs, but none has come. In a frustrated voice he said that because he still has no job, his family and people around him have begun to look at him askance.
Another is Sinthi Saha, who completed a master's in computer science at a private university but cannot find work matching her qualifications. She said the job offers she receives do not match her expectations in salary and other benefits. Like Mezbah and Sinthi, many of the huge number of students graduating every year are struggling in unemployment, and many who do find jobs do not get work matching their qualifications and skills.
The IMF research report titled Graduating into Uncertainty highlighted the high unemployment rate among educated youth in Bangladesh. Published last September, it put unemployment among highly educated youth aged 15 to 24 in the labour force at about 36 percent. The IMF's Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific, released last Thursday, put the figure for highly educated young people at about 29 percent.
That report also said the problem is not only failing to get a job. Even when people get work, it often does not match their educational qualifications. About 50 percent of highly educated workers in Bangladesh are in jobs that do not require their level of education, meaning they are engaged in work below their skill level.
BBS figures also show the trend rising. According to the Labour Force Survey 2022, there were 2.582 million unemployed people then, of whom 799,000 held bachelor's or master's degrees. In two years, both the total number of unemployed and the number of degree-holding unemployed increased.
Those involved say higher education institutions are increasing the number of highly educated unemployed because they are not producing skilled manpower according to labour market demand. Gaps in practical knowledge, technical skills, communication ability and problem-solving capacity are also major causes. Career specialists say employers now value information technology, English language, communication, problem-solving and teamwork skills; without them, entry into the job market is difficult even with a higher degree.
Fahim Mashroor, managing director of online job platform BdJobs.com, said the number of graduates is rising but employment is not being created and the economic structure has not changed, so the number of highly educated unemployed keeps rising. He said not only earning a certificate but also acquiring workplace skills is important, and graduates in the country show a gap in this area.
According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) annual report 2023, there were 53 public universities that year. At present there are 172 approved universities, government and private combined, of which 56 are government and 116 private. In addition, the National University has 2,257 affiliated colleges and institutions, including 555 government colleges; 1,921 offer bachelor's pass (degree) courses, 881 offer bachelor's honours, 176 offer master's, and there are 317 professional institutions. A huge number of students graduate from this vast structure every year.
Educationists say questions remain over the quality of higher education among graduates from nominal government and private universities. Most new public and most private universities lack skilled teachers, necessary infrastructure, research facilities and demand-based subjects, they say, and many National University affiliated colleges are in the same condition. Employment is not being created in proportion, and many graduates are not emerging as market-demanded manpower.
Research data singled out the National University. A 2024 study by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) said 28.24 percent of graduates from National University affiliated colleges are unemployed, with the rate at 19.96 percent among male graduates and 34.31 percent among female graduates. National University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr A S M Amanullah did not fully agree, saying 87 percent of National University students are employed in formal and informal sectors, that calling it a factory of unemployment is not reality, and that its students work in various sectors at home and abroad and contribute to remittance growth.
UGC Professor Dr Abdullah-Al-Mamun said last Saturday that multifaceted steps have been taken in higher education to produce employment-ready skilled manpower, with special emphasis on a third language and technical education. Former UGC chairman Professor Dr Muhammad Alamgir said the problem is that students are not prepared for jobs, that higher education needs trade courses and short courses alongside it, and that technical fields must first gain social recognition, noting that students once avoided nursing but now go there, and society must understand that educated people can also go into sales trades or hair cutting.
Alongside the skills gap, technological change is adding pressure, those involved say. As the use of artificial intelligence grows, some work is becoming automated, raising fears the job market will shrink. The IMF report carried the same warning: technology use is increasing rapidly, but if skills development does not keep pace, pressure on youth employment may rise further, so universities and technical institutions must work more closely with employer demand.
Experts therefore see the path ahead as clear: without job creation alongside more degrees, skills-based curricula, social recognition for trade and technical education, and closer links between institutions and employers, the numbers will not fall. How long young people like Mezbah and Sinthi must wait will depend on how quickly that change arrives in practice.
