More women fall out of employment in Bangladesh 

The number of female employees in Bangladesh has fallen from 19.6 million in 2017 to 17.3 million in 2022. This, said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, means that the number of women in the total urban workforce fell from 31% of the total urban workforce to 23.58% in 2022.

During a recent technical dialogue on Bangladesh’s national employment policy and labour market employment challenges in Bangladesh jointly organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Bangladesh’s Ministry of Labour, Employment (MoLE) and the Research and Policy Integration for Development (Rapid), a non-profit research organisation, discussed the reasons why more women are leaving the workforce in Bangladesh.

These included the adoption of new machinery and technologies in industries like the readymade garment industry and a persisting social stigma that women are not able to adapt to technology. Employment for women who were employed in agriculture saw growth but mostly in roles that were unpaid in family businesses. Employment in the services sector remained the same while the manufacturing saw a downturn, reported the Dhaka Tribune.

Calling for a review of the local labour market and employment policies to foster job creation and macroeconomic growth, Begum Monnujan, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Labour and Employment, said, “Bangladesh does indeed sit on untapped potential. As mentioned, over two million youths enter the labour force each year, and we must improve on harnessing this demographic dividend in the next 12-15 years.”

READ MORE: Female employees more likely to be affected by AI automation 

“To do this we must continue to develop and provide quality education at all levels, including vocational training and opportunities for upskilling. As part of this work, we need to consider the future of jobs and the labour market changes occurring because of the fourth industrial revolution and increased automation.”