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BANGLADESH has a huge population of ever 130 million people and despite the efforts at population control, this population is projected to become much bigger in contrast to its present size in the near future. A characteristic of the Bangladesh population is the preponderant number of young people in it. Nearly one third of the population, at present, are below the age of fifteen. But these young ones, together with the present borderline population who are about to become eligible for the job market very soon, could mean that at least 50 million young Bangladeshis could be looking for employment by the year 2015.
This is indeed a mind-boggling figure given the present rather lacklustre picture of employment in the country. The present rate of annual economic growth at around 5 per cent on average is hardly having any effect in creating a dent on the existing situation of huge unemployment and disguised unemployment. Therefore, the unemployment situation could really turn very serious if plans and programmes one not immediately adopted to cope with the much greater employment needs in the near future.
The home economy may not expand sufficiently and proportionately to cope with the rising demand for employment. It serves the country's purpose best if a much greater number of people can be sent out with jobs. In that case, the country's benefits can be multiple. The pressure of the unemployed ones for jobs in the country will eases, foreign currencies remitted to the country by expatriate workers in support of its foreign currency reserve and balance of payments will also increase. Considering all of these factors, the government should have a much more energetic policy in implementation stages at the fastest to provide publicly-run training courses for jobs seekers. The returns in remittances from skilled workers are substantially higher than the unskilled ones.
Thus, governments, investments in skill training makes sense. Besides, the government should persuade financial institutions to extend loans on easy terms and conditions to overseas job-seekers which they would be able to pay back on taking unemployment abroad. The government should intervene to ensure that private manpower agents work with integrity and efficiency so that job-seekers are not cheated. All of these steps and more are likely to much increase the prospects of gainful foreign employment by Bangladesh is.
In order to speed up employment locally, the government will need to give greater attention to making available training, advisory service, capital support and assistance to the country's huge unemployed youth at the grassroots level. With such training and assistance, many self-employment projects can be opened up for youth in the dairies and livestock sector, poultry breeding, growing of novel agricultural products for export, etc.
Generally, it is understood that the more the investment, the greater the establishment of various types of enterprises, infrastructures and services to create employment opportunities. Insufficient investments have been frustrating the creation of new employment opportunities in Bangladesh. Therefore, the government here needs to identify each of the factors that can contribute to a better investment climate. The same would include improvement of law and order, much lowering of the interest rate on borrowings, addition to and upgradation of infrastructures, fiscal policies that create level playing fields for the local entrepreneurs in relation to foreign competitors, fiscal incentives such as tax reduction and tax exemption, etc.
However, there is also a need to be clear about the policies to be pursued to create employment. New enterprises will absorb the unemployed. But capital incentive enterprises will employ a smaller number of people. Thus, labour-intensive enterprises should be encouraged. New enterprises to produce horticultural products for export can be labour intensive. A natural silk-based industry depending on production of raw silk in rural areas can be similarly labour-intensive. Small and cottage industries in different sectors can be also labour intensive in nature and directly contribute to creating employment among the preponderant poor population of the country. Thus, more funding and institutional supports for such small and cottage industries should be made available.
Policies need to be set in motion so that a much greater number of workers can go abroad from Bangladesh with some skills and training for jobs. Unskilled and untrained workers are paid less and are also the most vulnerable job-seekers in foreign job markets.
Therefore, the government's aim should be to create facilities for the job-seekers to acquire skill or training in diverse areas which have market demand abroad.
The government should establish many training centres all over the country to this end and admit trainees to these with nominal fees or on conditions that they would pay for their training charges after they get jobs abroad.
Overseas job-seekers in Bangladesh are seriously handicapped by the fat fees they are usually required to pay to private manpower exporting companies.
These companies declare on paper that they take the government-approved fee per person but use covert means to extort much higher fees. This needs to be seriously investigated and appropriate actions should be taken against such unethical practices.
The nationalised commercial banks (NCBS) can be asked by the government to extend collateral free loans at easy interest rates to those who would use the same to pay the fees of the manpower exporters. The loans may be extended on such terms that the same can be recovered on easy instalment basis from the earning of the workers abroad. If these steps are taken, then it will become easier for a greater number of people to go abroad with jobs and the total earnings from remittances could also rise substantially as a result.
Bangladesh workers abroad are poorly represented. They hardly get assistance from their missions in taking up issues such as non-enforcement of contracts, breach of contract and non-payment of salaries and other monetary benefits by the foreign employers.
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