Employment and social stability : revisiting the Sustainable Development Goal 9 for rural Bangladesh

Employment is an arrangement of formal, informal, and casual paid works. This is considered a primary source of income for the population of Bangladesh. The diverse economy of the country offers multiple income opportunities legally and illegally in urban, semiurban, and rural regions. Despite the economic diversity, currently, there are 2.7 million unemployed and underemployed individuals living without hope for jobs. These alarming numbers and social tensions for employment are the outcomes of the existing quota system in government employment; absence of vocational and market-demanded skills among university graduates; and an extreme lack of investment for building infrastructure, industries, and technology-facilitated innovation. The subsidized tertiary education in Bangladesh has been producing a large number of graduates every year since its independence in 1971. Regrettably, the employability prospects for the graduates over the years has been decreasing in an alarming rate. The increasing trend of unemployment and subsequent emergence of crimes and social unrests have been resulting in large-scale social instabilities, which this entry looks at. In doing so, the current study surveys literature documenting the current state of employment and unemployment of Bangladesh. It also suggests the ways in which building resilient infrastructures, industries, and technology-facilitated innovation – Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development – help create new jobs for unemployed graduates, to enhance their labor force participation in Bangladesh. The study touches upon the relationship between employment and social stability in light of Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development of the United Nations.