Job market: Struggle for freshers

Working from home, investing in safety measures, curtailing expenses, doing online classes-- people have made various other adaptations during the past nine months since the Covid-19 virus hit Bangladesh. Like many others, graduate students are notable sufferers of the crisis. Entry-level recruitments are essential for fresh graduates. But currently, many organisations have dismissed some of their current employees, reduced pay scale, discontinued some operations, and paused new investments to survive the crisis and overcome losses.

Education of all levels of students in Bangladesh came to a halt in March 2020. Consequently, many final year university students who either graduated right before the lockdown or got their graduation postponed due to the pandemic fell in turmoil. Nahaly Nafisa Khan, a final year student of economics department of Dhaka University (DU), expressed her unrest situation, "My graduation got delayed due to the Covid-19, and now I am totally uncertain about my life decisions. I don't know whether I should go for a job race or continue higher studies." The biggest concern for her is the fear of not knowing what kind of economic hardships await in the future, which points out some staggering factors.

Although Bangladesh had a steady decrease in the unemployment rate, which according to ILO, stands at 4.15 per cent in 2020, analysts predict that due to the Covid-19 economic recession, the rate will take a sudden spike. With the increasing number of fresh graduates every year, the job market of Bangladesh always had a scarcity of opportunities, which only intensified during this quarter. Many giant companies and multinational companies (MNCs) have kept their hiring process frozen. Local companies are also trying to cut back on the cost by laying off workers and closing down new recruitment processes, which will lead to a sharp rise in the number of unemployed youths in the country.

What is the perspective of a graduate entering this not so friendly job market right now? Asim Mahmud, class of 2021 of IBA, DU, replied, "The demand for jobs is the same in the market but the openings have drastically fallen. So, competition in job placement is unimaginable. On the other hand, many of us had to change their planned career path to get a placement anywhere, even at a lower salary." Due to the high job demand, according to him, the employers are dropping the industry salary low. Generally, job search and placement process is hectic for graduates; now, the pandemic has aggravated this situation to a great extent. The tension carries on for applicants of prestigious government jobs as well. Md Jannatun Nayem, a graduate from RUET, shares his thoughts, "I couldn't sit for any competitive exam including BCS this year. I think, especially for government job seekers, there is nothing much to do as everything depends on the government's actions."

The struggle remains in all aspects but adapting with this situation within the limited resources and possibilities is a sensible way to approach. Regarding adjustments, Asim included, "It's wise to not be choosy during the current period and apply wherever possible." He believes in the quote of Seneca, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Aspirants should prepare themselves in this dire situation by improving skill-sets, sitting for online exams and courses, studying about post-Covid industry trends and impacts.

Md Zia Uddin, head of supply services at Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, provided some insights from the recruiters' perspective. Some people are having a thought that as soon as vaccines arrive and we get vaccinated, everything will be alright. But in economic view, that will not be the end. He portrayed a chain of global and local incidents like shut down of retail stores, restriction in transportation, decrease in loan and investments and sudden drop in demand bringing losses to companies that brought the consequence of job scarcity. "Fresh graduates usually do not have previous work experience. We recruit them as interns or trainees as part of our corporate social responsibility. But during the pandemic, due to cost curtails and social distancing, it is difficult to invest in new recruitment."

Considering the above scenario, what should fresh graduates do then? Zia gave a ray of hope, "Every disaster brings some opportunities. Smart people should grab those opportunities or prepare themselves to utilise those scopes." He added that fresh graduates would have opportunities if they are skilled in technologies and have soft skills for adapting to the new normal. Many businesses and skills are becoming obsolete during the pandemic. On the other hand, new dimensions of business like Zoom and other digital ventures have a boost up, new ways of working are being introduced. Many sectors like delivery, food processing, health and hygiene, agro are discovering new opportunities which are building new stairs for development.

The writer is a freshman at IBA, University of Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]