Bangladesh doesn’t have a job crisis, it has a matching crisis

As Bangladesh steps into 2026, nearly 900,000 university graduates remain unemployed. Graduate unemployment hovers around 13.5 percent — roughly three times the national average. Each year, more than 700,000 young people leave universities and colleges with degrees in hand, only to discover that the labour market has little space for them.

At first glance, the diagnosis seems obvious: Bangladesh is facing a severe jobs crisis. But that explanation tells only half the story.

Step into corporate boardrooms in the capital’s Gulshan, manufacturing hubs in Gazipur or export-oriented factories on the outskirts of Dhaka and you will hear a different complaint altogether. Vacancies remain open for months. HR managers sift through thousands of CVs yet struggle to find candidates with the right competencies. Production targets are delayed not because there are no applicants, but because there are too few who can operate modern machinery, analyse data, communicate effectively or adapt to digital workflows.

This is the paradox of Bangladesh’s labour market. On one side stand thousands of graduates holding degrees they cannot monetise. On the other side, employers are unable to fill roles critical for growth.  This is a matching crisis. Bangladesh does not lack human potential. Nor does it lack economic opportunity.

Over the past two decades, the country has dramatically expanded access to higher education. Universities have multiplied, enrolment has surged and degrees have become more accessible than ever. But expansion has not always been accompanied by reform. Too many curricula remain rooted in theory, detached from the rapidly evolving demands of a digitised, automated economy.

Industries are moving toward data-driven operations, automation and integrated supply chains. Yet many graduates struggle with basic digital literacy, practical problem-solving and workplace communication. The result is a generation that is overqualified for the jobs it desires and underqualified for the jobs that exist.

This is not a failure of students. It is a systemic failure — of policy, coordination, and cultural perception. For too long, vocational and technical pathways have been treated as second-class options, reserved for those who “could not make it” in academic streams.

The myth of a single, monolithic “job crisis” prevents us from seeing this nuance. We should not only ask, “How many jobs are there?” but also, “What kind of skills are required?” and “Are we preparing people for those roles?” The problem becomes even clearer when we examine hiring practices.

Attend any job fair in Dhaka and a familiar pattern emerges. Recruiters often scan CVs for institutional pedigree before anything else. University names act as proxies for competence. In a system overwhelmed by applications and lacking robust skill-assessment tools, brand recognition becomes the shortcut.

Graduates from institutions in major cities enjoy an advantage. Those from district colleges or smaller public universities find themselves filtered out before their abilities are assessed. When thousands of applications arrive for a single vacancy, employers need quick filters. But reliance on prestige over proof excludes high-potential candidates and narrows the talent pool unnecessarily.

It also creates a damaging psychological divide. Young people from outside urban centres internalise the belief that no matter how hard they work, their background limits their prospects. At the same time, companies risk hiring based on brand rather than capability, leading to dissatisfaction and high turnover.

Then there is the “noise” factor. A single job posting can generate thousands of applications. HR teams, often understaffed and pressed for time, cannot thoroughly review every submission. As a result, selection becomes partly arbitrary. The most suitable candidate may never be noticed, while a less suitable but better-positioned applicant advances.

So how do we address the matching crisis?

First, we must move toward competency-based hiring. Second, we must strengthen the alignment between education and industry. Third, technology should be leveraged not merely to aggregate applications but to improve matching quality.

Take nextjobz, recently launched by AKIJ Resource, as an example of where we must go. This is not another job board. It is an AI-powered cloud ecosystem designed for recruitment, skill development, and career guidance. The goal is simple but ambitious: enable faster, skill-driven hiring so companies can grow stronger and the economy can move forward.

Growth and matching are complementary. Creating jobs without improving matching leaves talent stranded. Improving matching without creating jobs limits impact. Both must advance together.

The narrative of a “job crisis” captures frustration but misses the deeper structural issue. The real challenge lies in connecting the right people to the right opportunities at the right time. The jobs exist. The talent exists. What remains incomplete is the bridge between them.

If we focus solely on expanding university seats without ensuring employability, we risk producing more educated unemployment. If we continue to hire based on prestige rather than proof, we waste untapped potential.

Bangladesh’s future depends not only on how many jobs we create, but on how effectively we match them. The window of opportunity is still open. But it will not remain so indefinitely. Recognising the matching crisis is the first step toward resolving it. The next step is action — deliberate, coordinated, and sustained.

The time to build the bridge is now.

Shoeb Hassan is the Chief Business Officer at Nextjobz.