Govt to launch employment exchange in December

The government will launch a pilot "Employment Exchange Centre" in Dhaka this December to directly connect job seekers with employers, Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury announced Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference at the ministry in the Secretariat, he said the initiative will eventually expand nationwide to all divisions and 64 districts.
“A direct connection between job seekers and employers will be established through this Employment Exchange Centre,” the minister said.
To support the programme, the government plans to build a nationwide database of college and university job seekers through career fairs, alongside a comprehensive online and offline database tracking industry demand for labour.
Prime Minister’s Adviser and Spokesperson Mahdi Amin said the initiative was aimed at bringing labour demand and supply onto a single platform and helping young people develop skills needed in the job market.
“Creating employment is the key to proper empowerment and nurturing of the talent of the youth,” he said.
He said the government’s goal was to transform young people into skilled workers and connect them, including those outside the mainstream labour market, directly with employment opportunities.
Mahdi said the government had held consultations over the past six months with industry representatives, academics, NGOs, government agencies and development partners to develop the programme.

A unified national digital platform will combine information on the skills and qualifications of job seekers with data on labour demand from industries and businesses, he said.
The government will also organise regular career fairs nationwide to connect employers with potential workers and help bridge the gap between industry and academia.
Mahdi said the initiative would develop an “employment-oriented ecosystem” that would provide job seekers with training in areas such as CV writing, capacity building and interview preparation.
Arrangements would also be made to connect candidates with employment opportunities through referrals involving different ministries, he said.
Young people seeking jobs abroad would be able to register with the employment exchange and be connected with relevant technical training centres or the technical and vocational education system.
“Both employers and job seekers will register on this platform,” Mahdi Amin said.
International employers may not register directly, but prospective migrant workers would be directed to appropriate training programmes based on their career goals, he added.
Asked about employment targets under the programme, the PM’s adviser said specific targets and a roadmap would be announced when the initiative is formally launched in December.

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He said the government was still working on the strategy and implementation framework to encourage participation by industries and protect the interests of stakeholders.
Asked about unemployment benefits, Mahdi said the government’s immediate priority was to equip young people with skills and connect them with jobs, although unemployment allowances could be considered in the future.
“For the time being, the government’s primary objective is to transform the youth into a skilled workforce; the matter of introducing unemployment allowances will be given serious consideration in the days ahead,” he said.

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