T H E W O R L D B A N K POLICY BRIEF SKILLS FOR TOMORROW’S JOBS Preparing Bangladesh for Industry 4.0 Bangladesh: Future of Work and Skills In the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution, skills development is important for Bangladesh more than ever to achieve a high-productivity growth and create more and better jobs. Technologies are drastically changing the business landscape and transforming the job market and skills demand. This Policy Note highlights critical skills gap in the face of rapid technological changes and proposes key strategies to reorient Bangladesh’s skills development system for the future of work. Is Bangladesh ready for the future of work? Skills demand is changing and rising. Skills supply is weak and suppressed. Modern technologies have been coming like robotics for automated assembly line, into the economic fabric of Bangladesh, high-speed sewing machines, and computer- creating new skills demand. Many aided designing and manufacturing. Post- industries are now using new technologies secondary education and training have a big in their factories and offices to boost their role to play to prepare youth for this dynamic productivity and competitiveness. Ready environment. Advanced new technologies at Made Garments (RMG) companies are leading workplace means that business are constantly in Bangladesh in adopting cutting edge needing more workers with high-level skills production technologies and automation and, more importantly, ability to adapt to to enhance the quality of their products, future technological changes. SKILLS FOR TOMORROW’S JOBS | Preparing Bangladesh for Industry 4.0 POLICY BRIEF Bangladeshi labor force is under-skilled, and skills training opportunities are scarce. Tertiary education enrollment in Bangladesh (17% in 2016) is low in the region. Training opportunities for the workers are hard to come by, particularly for poorer workers (Figure 1). Enterprises of all sizes, especially medium and small size ones, are not active in providing training to their workers compared to peers in the region and around the world (Figure 2). Female workers are in particular at disadvantage. 43 35 9.9 27 19 4.5 15 1.9 2.7 9 Small (5-19) 1.3 Medium (20-99) Poorest 2nd 3rd 4th Richest Bangladesh South Asia All countries Income Quintile Source: Bangladesh Job Diagnostics, 2017 Source: World Bank Enterprise Survey Bangladesh, 2013 Figure 1: Share of Workers Having Skills Training in Figure 2: Share of SMEs Offering Formal Training Program for its Employees the Past 12 Months, by income quintile What skills are employers looking for? Employers are not satisfied with skills of Bangladeshi youth. Skills of young Bangladeshi workers are falling behind what are required to cope with the current and future business environment and changing technologies. To strive in the dynamic economy, Bangladeshi employers are demanding workers who are strong in: Information technology skills Higher-order cognitive skills Practical technical and Soft skills skills for job In addition, for students, skills to navigate job market are lacking. These are essential skills for Bangladeshi youths to thrive in the future of work of the 4th industrial revolution and what post-secondary education institutions need to equip them. Technical Skills Business Technology Environment Higher-order Cognitive Skills Critical thinking Problem-solving Effective communication Leadership Numeracy Personality Foundational Cognitive Skills and Soft Skills Literacy Socio-emotional skills Science Work ethics, discipline, Basic computer behavioural Source: Adapted from Pierre et al. (2014). STEP Skills Measurement Surveys. Higher order cognitive skills and soft skills are essential to keep up with the needs of the job market and sustain high performance in a fast changing economy. POLICY BRIEF Three key strategies for skills development to prepare you for tomorrow’s jobs 1 Re-orienting skills supply to prepare youths for unpredictable skills demand and uncertain economic environment: There is an urgent need to integrate the training of higher-order cognitive skills and soft skills in post- secondary education and training. Active 2 teaching methods like project based learning are known to enhance these skills. We also need to assess and monitor the levels of these skills among students, and there are promising good practices in measuring soft skills. Moreover, there is a need to re-orient technical programs in post-secondary education to ensure ICT Mainstreaming involvement of the demand-side of skills - private sector participation in skills development: Private 3 Improving institutional capacity for learning and make STEM more practical and participation and partnership better linkage between supply and hands-on. Greater investment in lab facilities in skills development is a vital demand sides of skills: Strengthening and professional development of teachers element of workforce development labor market responsiveness through job will boost the acquisition of these skills. Job and building the brand of skills. market information and graduate feedback placement centers need to be activated at Private sector-led skills trainings system is crucial. The operationalization all institutions to improve job search skills are a potential ‘high impact’ area of National Skills Development Authority and reduce frictions in job market. for improving the quality of skills in strategic move to establish more training in Bangladesh. There have sector-wide program approach in skills 80973 been some success cases in public development sector is a huge step forward partnership with private employers in the right direction. Furthermore, it is 1436787098873 in providing market demand based critical that the qualification framework for skills training and those need skills training and quality assurance system to be substantially expanded. in higher education be implemented in full. Partnership to set up professional training programs at post-secondary institutions for company employees have been piloted and should also be expanded. Partnership to expand apprenticeship and dual training programs must be mainstreamed. THE WORLD BANK SKILLS FOR TOMORROW’S JOBS | Preparing Bangladesh for Industry 4.0 POLICY BRIEF For further queries, please contact: World Bank Office Dhaka Plot- E-32, Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh Tel: 880-2-5566-7777, Fax: 880-2-5566-7778 Email: bangladeshinfo@worldbank.org www.worldbank.org/bangladesh Read the full report titled ‘Bangladesh Skills for Tomorrow’s Jobs: Preparing Youth for a Fast Changing Economy’ available at: http://documents.worldbank. org/curated/en/home