The enviable development progress that Bangladesh has shown is afflicted because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and is further plagued by the Ukraine crisis.
The principal factor of the success is obviously the huge young active workforce that accounts for more than 63 percent of the total populace.
Bangladesh is currently enjoying a demographic dividend with enormous positive effects on the economy and society.
This young fraternity is the potential human resources contributing to various employment sectors such as readymade garments, agriculture, banking, marketing, pharmaceuticals, freelancing, and so on.
Only 2.3 million people are employed in the public sector whereas a lion’s share of the active workforce is engaged in the private sector.
Apart from the structured job either in public or private and the limited employment scope, a significant number of young people is still underutilized or investing their human resources in the informal sector.
Besides the employment engaged formally and informally inside the country, a good number of youths opt for migrating to developed countries.
Commercial banks align their loan policies and patronize youths for their business ventures. Only the Ministry of Youth and Sports has given grants of about BDT 208 million to 12969 youth organizations from the seed money of the youth fund.
More than 13 million people are currently living outside the country and contributing about USD 15 billion to the economy each year.
However, COVID has reduced the remittance inflow and constricted the scope of expanding the job market. It is found that migration flow has drastically dwindled meaning that unemployment is rising and the demand for jobs and livelihood within the country has been a great concern.
It is an undeniable fact that private sector employment has considerably squeezed during the pandemic which resulted in firing, closure of companies, reduction of payment and hierarchical position, change of profession, and quitting jobs.
The research found that about 13% of people have become unemployed due to COVID-19 and its after-effects.
The limited scope of employment in the public sector shrunk the private sector, and the volatile migration sector has forced the youth to explore new employment opportunities to lead a life if it is not in a very meaningful way at least in a modest way.
Finding no best alternative for livelihood amidst the economic crisis because of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, a huge young active force has chosen to develop entrepreneurship.
It is a business activity initiated by young people, typically aged between 15 and 35 years old that encourages imitative, innovation, creativity, and most importantly risk-taking.
Youth entrepreneurship is also treated as the process of transforming creative and innovative ideas into enterprises and managed by them with a primary objective of addressing poverty and unemployment and a secondary objective of developing the socio-economic conditions of the society and country.
The head of the government, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh frequently urges the young generation not to search for structured jobs but rather to create their own jobs by establishing youth entrepreneurship.
Government initiatives, social awareness, and the financial crisis of family are so linked and well coordinated that the notion of a love economy has created the economic value of women’s potential and opened the window for many women.
Her request is also coupled with numerous policy supports including financial packages and skill-based training. Various departments of government such as the Department of Youth Development, Bangladesh Industrial Development Authority, Department of Women and Children Affairs, Department of Social Welfares, Bangladesh Small and Industries Corporation, Commercial banks, Financial institutions, Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) of Ministry of Finance, government supported NGOs are found actively supportive for not only providing financial assistance but also skill-based training to initiate start-up business.
There is a wide range of training programs offered for the youths which include computer training, graphics design, digital marketing, hotel management and tourism, fisheries cultivation, small industries, beauty parlor, mobile servicing, sewing, nursery and afforestation, vegetable gardening, cattle rearing, etc.
Commercial banks align their loan policies and patronize youths for their business ventures. Only the Ministry of Youth and Sports has given grants of about BDT 208 million to 12969 youth organizations from the seed money of the youth fund.
Special preference is given to women who are especially sitting idle and have ample time to spend in addition to doing their household work.
As individuals, doing business by their own idea and innovation, uphold their self-dignity, and self-esteemed, enhance their sense of individualism and encourage and influence others to come forward.
Women with active businesses can avail of a maximum of BDT 2.5 million loans from the bank without a guarantor.
Engagement of this workforce has brought the cultural revolution in terms of bringing a big group to economic activities and empowerment.
Government initiatives, social awareness, and the financial crisis of family are so linked and well coordinated that the notion of a love economy has created the economic value of women’s potential and opened the window for many women.
It is noticeably found that a good number of women (housewives) utilized the COVID crisis and started the business by transforming their idle time into productive activities.
Many women started the business of home-delivery of cooked food with the help of the Facebook page for order placement and their family members (who were sacked from the job) to reach out to the customers.
Although limited employment scope served as a force of creating opportunity and flourishing youth entrepreneurship, the adverse situation of COVID and IT infrastructure has quickly enabled them to move faster.
ICT division of the government reports that more than 650000 freelancers, of which 500000 are actively working in Bangladesh and contributing more than 8500 million BDT annually.
This ICT-driven opportunity is a recent advancement just because of the government’s vision and priority. Earning by freelancing gives a high hope to a young entrepreneur when s/he earns 2-3 hundred thousand Bangladesh currency.
ICT-enabled freelancing jobs helped earn foreign exchange too. Moreover, since an entrepreneur is a self-regulated business, a young can design his or her own luminous future.
Whatever the reason for becoming entrepreneurs, the state, society, and individuals are enormously benefitted from these business ventures in a number of ways either in the form of economic activities or social and personal development.
Youth entrepreneurs generate cash flow to raise the country’s GDP, reduce the unemployment rate, enhance the national exchequer, and contribute to achieving the government’s broader agenda of development including agenda 2030, and vision 2041.
Youth entrepreneurship is seen as one of the alternative solutions to the employment problem and creates an opportunity for the effective utilization of human potential.
As individuals, doing business by their own idea and innovation, uphold their self-dignity, and self-esteemed, enhance their sense of individualism and encourage and influence others to come forward.
Following the austerity measures of the government, the economy is induced by the severe negative aspects that demand alternative ways of utilizing human resources.
Thus, a young active workforce took part in training programs and come forward with entrepreneurship as a means of earning and leading life.
However, becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy road that is coupled with a number of obstacles including the hazardous process of getting a loan, lack of collateral-free loan, interrupted electricity, dearth of information dissemination, and social stigma.
The government may ease the process of bank loans, make available training with loan-system in a rural areas, and create a connection between the market and academic endeavors.
It goes without saying that the economic crisis may continue with the same critical condition and dwindle the structured employment market in the next few more years whereas a significant number of the young active workforce will join the labor market every year.
Youth entrepreneurship is seen as one of the alternative solutions to the employment problem and creates an opportunity for the effective utilization of human potential.
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