Dhaka Job Indicators Show High Division Unemployment Alongside Skills Training Investments

Dhaka Division recorded approximately 687,000 unemployed people as of December 2024, equal to nearly 26 percent of Bangladesh's total unemployed population.

The figures come at a time when graduate joblessness remains elevated and formal hiring shows selective rebound. Employers posted more than 8,000 positions in July 2025, concentrated in ready-made garments, fast-moving consumer goods and technology. At the same time, more than 900,000 tertiary graduates nationwide stay without work, largely because curricula have not kept pace with demand for AI, data analytics and full-stack development skills.

Unemployment concentrated in central districts

Job postings remain heavily clustered in Dhaka's central business district. This pattern increases commute times for residents in outer neighbourhoods because road and public-transit upgrades have not matched population growth. In the division overall, 13.5 percent of bachelor's degree holders are unemployed and nearly one in three young graduates aged 15 to 29 lack work.

The services sector accounts for more than two-thirds of Dhaka employment, while industry provides 20 percent, with garments making up half of that industrial share and 28 percent of female employment.

Targeted funding for workforce skills

Public and development partners have directed money toward closing the skills mismatch. The Asian Development Bank provided a $300 million loan in 2023 to expand technology-oriented training in automotive, pharmaceuticals and light engineering. In April 2025 the Suniti project launched a digital learning-management system offering free courses to more than 4 million domestic workers. The government's 2025 TVET Implementation Plan seeks to embed green and digital competencies, and the German-funded PRECISE project has introduced dual training for more than 1,000 industrial workers and students to meet export-market standards.

These programmes aim to align supply with the openings already appearing in RMG, FMCG and technology. Observers expect hiring volumes and training enrolment to continue rising through the second half of 2025 as employers test whether new graduates can fill the listed roles.

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