Business Desk :
The incomes of 34.2% employees of different private sectors and 37.3% self-employed people have not reached pre-pandemic level yet in Bangladesh.
According to a South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) survey, their incomes declined amid the covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, around 7.88% of former wage employed respondents are still unemployed.
It also found that the Barishal division had the highest unemployment rate at 12.94% and Khulna had the lowest at 3.23%.
Sanem also noted that 20% of international migrants lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
The survey titled “COVID-19 Impact on Labour Market and Migration: Results from SANEM’s Survey” was published at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. They conducted the survey during the month of January and February this year.
Among the respondents, 2845 households were non-migrants, 230 internal migrants and 273 international migrants.
Among the non-migrant respondent, 51.6% were wage employed, 41.5% were self employed and 6.9% were unemployed.
The major sectors (wage employed) where income was yet to recover were transportation (55.3%), construction (40.5%), agriculture, forestry and Fishing (38.4%), manufacturing-RMG (37.8%), manufacturing non-RMG (32.7%) and wholesale and retail trade (18.7%).
Besides, the survey showed that among the self employed respondents incomes were yet to recover in the following sectors, transportation (57.6%), hotel and restaurant (48.6%), manufacturing (42.2%), wholesale and retail trade (39.0%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (31.5%). In Dhaka, the income of 31.1% wage employed and 41.8% self employed people was yet to recover.
The study also highlighted the job shifting tendencies of the respondents during the period of March-December last year when around 5.4% of wage employed respondents changed their profession.
Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, research director of Sanem presented the findings while Dr Selim Raihan, executive director of Sanem moderated the programme.
Selim Raihan said that most of our policies are product market-oriented. “If we do not focus on the labour market and factor market (Capital market), our economic recovery will be slower amid pandemic.”
