93% workers got their jobs back: Study

Ninety-three per cent workers in Dhaka – among those who became unemployed amid the Covid-19 pandemic – got their jobs back between September and December last year, after public life returned to relative normalcy.

The Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) published the findings on Thursday following a study, conducted through interviewing 400 workers and 30 employers from transport, retail and hotel-restaurant sectors in the city’s Mirpur, Uttar, Gulshan, Gulistan and Old Dhaka areas.

Besides, the hotel and restaurant sector has the highest percentage of workers who are yet to get their jobs back, standing at eight per cent, followed by 2 per cent in retail shops and 0.2 per cent in the transportation sector, says the study unveiled at an event in Dhaka.

In a presentation, BILS Research Wing Deputy Director Manirul Islam said, “During the lockdowns, 83.75 per cent workers from these sectors had lost their jobs. Job loss from the transport sector was the highest at 95 per cent, and lowest in the retail sector at 25 per cent.

“Moreover, workers had lost 81 per cent of their income during the Covid-19 crisis. Income loss was the highest among the transport workers at 96 per cent, and lowest in the hotel-restaurant sector at 83 per cent.”

He continued, “Among the workers who suffered income loss during lockdowns, around eight per cent could not recover their income. This phenomenon is the highest among the transport workers, standing at 16 per cent.

“Additionally, income irregularities increased by 33 per cent in the post lockdown period, and 25 per cent of these workers feared loss of income.

The study further revealed that around 22 per cent of the families earned less during the crisis compared to the pre-Covid period, which affected their savings. In the pre-Covid period, around 24 per cent of the workers had an average Tk 62,365 in savings, which has gone down by 12 per cent to Tk 40,125.

These workers had to deplete their savings to survive as only 12 per cent of them got government support during Covid-19 restrictions.

BILS Vice-Chairman Amirul Haque Amin, its directors Kohinoor Mahmood and Nazma Yesmin were present among others at the report’s launching ceremony, held at BILS office in the capital.

Bangladesh identified its first Covid-19 patient in March 2020. Since then the government imposed restrictions in phases.

Strict restrictions on public movement were imposed between March 26 and May 30 and April 5 and August 10 of last year when many people lost their jobs while income of many others reduced.