Bangladesh’s job market is facing intense competition, with 159 to 235 applications submitted for each vacancy, according to a Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research report released Thursday at the BIDS Bhaban auditorium in the capital. Professor Atanu Rabbani, research director of the General Economics Division, presented the report, which highlighted particularly strong competition among entry-level jobseekers.

The study used vacancy advertisements and submitted applications from Bdjobs, described as the country’s largest online job portal, covering data from June 28, 2015, to December 28, 2025. Rabbani said Bangladesh’s informal economy accounts for 85 to 89 percent of the economy, while the Bdjobs data represent 2.5 percent of the formal sector. He said the data still reflect part of the country’s employment market.

Before Covid-19, vacancies received an average of 173 applications, rising to 287 in the post-pandemic period. During lockdowns from March to June 2020, job advertisements fell 70.2 percent and vacancies declined 75.2 percent. The report said the market took about 41 weeks to normalize and remained about 21 percent above expected abnormal levels during 2022-2025. It also noted some easing in the final two quarters of 2025.