A large number of employed youth in Bangladesh stands to lose their jobs this year due to massive disruptions caused by the ongoing pandemic to the country's labour market, according a report prepared by two international organisations.
Some 1.11 million to 1.67 million youth, aged between 15 and 24 years, are vulnerable to losing jobs in 2020, the report estimates.
Bangladesh's youth unemployment rate may see a twofold rise to 24.8 per cent in 2020. The rate was 11.9 per cent in 2019, the report said.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) jointly published the report titled 'Tackling the Covid-19 youth employment crisis in Asia and the Pacific' on Tuesday.
The agricultural sector might see the highest 22.9 per cent loss of jobs in Bangladesh, followed by 13.6 per cent in textile and apparel sector, 12.8 per cent in construction and 12.1 per cent in retail trade sector.
According to the report, young people's employment prospects in Asia and the Pacific are severely challenged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The youth will be hit harder than adults (25 and older) in the immediate crisis. This might also exact higher longer-term economic and social costs.
The report projected that between 10 and 15 million youth jobs (full-time equivalent) may be lost across 13 countries in Asia and the Pacific in 2020.
The ILO-ADB report cited three ways in which young people were affected in the current crisis.
"Young people are experiencing (1) job disruptions from reduced working hours and layoffs, (2) disruptions in education and training as they try to complete studies, and (3) difficulties transitioning from school to work and moving between jobs," it said.
It called on the governments in the region to adopt urgent, large-scale and targeted measures to generate jobs for youth, keep education and training on track, and to minimize future scarring of more than 660 million young people in the region.
Under the short containment scenario, 1.11 million of youth in Bangladesh will lose their jobs and it will be 1.67 million in long containment, the report said.
Youth unemployment rates jumped in the first quarter of 2020 from the last quarter of 2019 in all economies.
Job losses among youth might reach 14.8 million in 2020 in the 13 countries in Asia and the Pacific under the six-month containment scenario and a longer containment period would naturally result in higher job losses, it said.
The report estimated that the textile sector might account for over 10 per cent of total job losses in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka and 15 per cent in Vietnam, but will be lower in other countries.
Sara Elder, a lead author of the report and head of the ILO Regional Economic and Social Analysis unit, said the pre-crisis challenges for youth are now amplified since COVID-19 hit.
"Without sufficient attention, our fear is that this risks creating a 'lockdown generation' that could feel the weight of this crisis for many years to come," she noted.
The report also projected 4.5 per cent GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for Bangladesh in 2020, followed by 4.1 per cent for Vietnam, 2.3 per cent for Nepal.
Negative growth of 4.0 per cent has been forecast for India, followed by 5.5 per cent for Cambodia, 6.5 per cent for Thailand, 6.1 per cent for Sri Lanka, 3.8 per cent for Philippines and 0.4 per cent for Pakistan.
