Rising operating costs, sees many laid off, limit job opportunities
www.dhakatribune.com
Average salary in Bangladesh below India, Pakistan and Vietnam
Rising operating costs, sees many laid off, limit job opportunities
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Desk
September 20, 2022 8:16 PM
Rising operating costs in businesses have shrunk the country's job market in the last six months, after an initial rebound from Covid-19 shocks.
Layoffs in private jobs have been noted as many of the businesses were trying to adjust their higher expenditures on account of soaring fuel and raw material prices.
According to government data, inflation climbed up to 7.48% in July, against 5.36% in the corresponding month last year, amid spiraling prices.
Food inflation jumped yet higher, to a peak of 8.19%.
It's a double blow from outside and from domestic front -- stemming from growing cost of raw materials on the international market, hike in energy prices, increased transportation cost, supply- chain disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine war and prolonged impact of the Covid-19 pandemic -- which pushes employers to cut jobs or employer benefits.
Average monthly salary in Bangladesh is below the levels in India, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Among the Asian countries, Bangladesh ranked 20th with average monthly salary at $299, while India's position is 18th, Pakistan stands 17th and Vietnam 14th, according to Numbeo.com, and Salaryexplorer.com (based on the exchange rates in March 2022.)
Singapore boasts the highest average monthly salary $6,223, followed by China with $4,609 and Hong Kong with $4,600.
Industry sources said that the trend of cutting down the number of employees or furloughs started off amid Covid- induced economic shocks since 2020 -- the time when there had been a reverse mass migration from urban to rural destinations.
However, the situation has again turned for the worse during the last six months with commodity prices spiraling beyond affordability.
A recent finding by GlobalData shows companies across sectors, including technology, retail, and banking and payments, continuing to announce layoffs, and a sizable decline in active jobs (number of jobs available for application) also apparent in August 2022.
GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, in its jobs recap of August 2022, finds continuous layoffs amid sizable decline in active, posted, closed jobs
An analysis of GlobalData's Jobs Analytics database identified a seven-index-point decrease in active jobs in August 2022 due to a high relative closure rate of 12% compared to the previous month.
Based on GlobalData's analysis of around 27,000 companies, active jobs declined by 5% month on month in August 2022, whereas job closures-where a posted job is removed from the career page of the employer-decreased by 3%, along with a dip of 7% in new job postings.
Retail, pharma, oil and gas, aerospace, defence and security, banking and payments, and technology had witnessed a month-on-month dip in active jobs by 2%, 2%, 3%, 6%, 8%, and 9% respectively in August 2022, Globldata revealed.