Unstable economy hits private job sector hard

Recruitment of freshers in private sector businesses and manufacturing sector slowed down as a backlash to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and global instability caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Both production and trade in Bangladesh were severely impacted by the two major concerns, especially the war, which forced firms to suspend hiring new employees.

After a long Covid-induced pause, the employers began the recruitment process in the middle of 2021 and continued the process till June this year amid attempts to recover from the Covid fallouts.

But the process saw a setback after the Russia-Ukraine war began and the global production line, transportation chain and international trade face severe hurdles.

AKM Fahim Mashroor, the chief executive officer of the country’s largest job portal bdjobs.com, said issuance of job circulars reduced nearly by 20 per cent from July to September comparing the previous three months.

The volatile exchange rate, increased fuel prices and transportation costs made the employers and investors calculate many additional factors before spending and all these factors halted fresh recruitment, said the employers.

Conglomerate companies are now reluctant to recruit new employees and some of them also postponed their ongoing recruitment process.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh ranked second out of 28 countries in 2018 for having the highest level of educated unemployment rate, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The ILO World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2022, forecasted nearly 5 per cent of Bangladesh’s total workforce would remain unemployed in 2022, which is 0.6 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic period. It was 4.4 per cent in 2019.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics labour force survey shows that the country's overall unemployment rate jumped to 5.3 per cent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Freshers recruitment at Ha-Meem Group, a leading business group in Bangladesh that covers apparel, jute, packaging, chemical, tea and media sectors, has slowed down in the past three months.

Ashique Ferdous, general manager for human resources at the group, said, “Our recruitment process is running at a snail's space now.”

“We had to postpone some ongoing requirement processes considering the ongoing economic condition. We are now very cautious amid the condition,” he said.

The same is the situation at Meghna Group of Industries, another conglomerate in Bangladesh. “We are dealing with our recruitment process very carefully amid the economic instability at home and abroad,” said Shamsul Alom, a deputy general manager for human resources at Meghna Group.

Shafiq-ul- Haque, head of human resources at Smart Technologies (BD) Ltd, fears the constitution would worsen further. “The companies are also facing economic hardship. In such a situation, corporations are thinking twice to recruit new employees, Shafiq-ul-Haque said.

Md Mahabub completed his master’s three years ago and he is not eligible to apply for a government job because of the age limit. Now he is trying to get a private-sector job. “Job circulars are hardly seen in recent times. I appeared at two job interviews at two renowned companies. When I contacted them two months later, they just told me that they will inform me if there is any development. I don’t know whether would call me again at all,” said Mahabub.

According to a World Bank report, nearly 2 million youth get ready for entering the job market every year.

The World Bank in a fresh comprehensive study forecasted that with simultaneous hikes in interest rates in response to inflation, the world may be edging toward a global recession in 2023 and a string of financial crises in emerging markets and developing economies that would do them lasting harm.

Professor Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the economic think tank Policy Research Institute, told The Business Post that the creation of new jobs will not be possible amid huger uncertainty.

“It is quite acceptable to reduce private jobs amid slowdown and instability in economic activities. Our economy will not rebound without new investments. If the economy does not get its expected momentum with new investment, then how employments will be created?’ he said.

According to the 8th five-year plan, the government has taken initiative to create as many as 11.33 million jobs while nearly 80 per cent of it is expected from the private sector.

Nazma Yeasmin, director (research and development) of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said the situation is very unfortunate for the private job sector jobseekers and it will create extra pressure on them.