Can you remember the time when you were looking for a job desperately? Even after trying everything possible, you failed to get a job and for months you couldn't see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Some people are lucky enough, who haven't gone through that stage and have got good jobs. But we know how hard it is to get a good job here in Bangladesh. I have seen a lot of people going through the depressing stage of their life. Things get worse when there is a huge difference between the level of your expectation and the reality.
As a citizen of Bangladesh, I always wanted to do something for my country and for the greater benefit of its people. Most of the time it is very depressing to see how little we can do to build a better nation with our workforce. A British Council sponsored report Prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on graduate unemployment in South Asia, published earlier this year, has generated a media storm in Bangladesh. The EIU-BC estimate of unemployment at 47 per cent against Bangladesh's overall unemployment rate of 5 per cent is extremely worrying. As a matter of fact, a graduate unemployment figure is nearly 10 times our overall unemployment rate raises question about the credibility of Bangladeshi universities. I would like to share some of my opinions regarding the unemployment situation in the country.
I think it's high time the government and the authorities concerned should take effective steps and dedicate more time on research and strategic approaches to address the unemployment problem. It is very important to have specific plans and collaboration between the job market and the educational institutions. Everyone should focus more on real world requirements instead of good grades only. If such steps can be implemented carefully only then can we get more skilled workforce. Only then the ambitious government projects like Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP FY11- FY15) can leave its mark on the development of Bangladesh, according to some experts.
One of the encouraging developments in the employment scenario of the economy has been the increase of female participation in the labour force. Between 2000 and 2010, female labour force doubled. At the same time, against a 38.7 per cent growth in total number of employment during this time, female employment grew by 105.1 per cent. The share of women in labour force in 2010 stood at 30.3 per cent which was 21.1 per cent in 2000 (Quoted from Labour Force Survey 2010 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
Lastly, no matter how little we know about the initiatives taken by the government, it does have a significant impact on the society. In the FY12, projects like Employment Generation Programme for the Poorest (EGPP) created 3.3 million monthly jobs, Food For Work (FFW) provided 3.8 million and National Service (NS) added 1.5 million more monthly employment. (vide the 2012 report of Ministry of Finance)
Apart from these, very few numbers of lucrative jobs are available for us and hundreds of applications are submitted for a single position. It is very tough to be heartened seeing the data but it is very clear that the unemployment rate is very high. As for me, I can conclude that I am a graduate and I don't have any job.

Writer is an Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduate of North South University.