The initiative follows a review of documents from several government bodies, including the Microcredit Regulatory Authority and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Infograph: TBS
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Infograph: TBS
The government has launched a fresh initiative to fill around 5.2 lakh vacant posts across various institutions, seeking detailed information on vacancies, approved recruitment, published circulars and the status of ongoing recruitment processes.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Administration have started collecting and verifying the information. Ministries, divisions, directorates, authorities and state-owned institutions have been asked to submit updated lists of vacant posts and other information.
The initiative follows a review of documents from several government bodies, including the Microcredit Regulatory Authority and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Officials said the move aims not only to fill vacant posts but also to expedite stalled recruitment processes and bring changes to the recruitment system.
Wishing not to be named, a senior public administration ministry official said it may take three to four years to complete all recruitments despite the government’s efforts to speed up the process.
Each recruitment involves several stages, including approval, publication of circulars, application scrutiny, arrangements for MCQ, written test and viva, result publication, police verification, appointment and joining.
A BCS recruitment cycle currently takes around one and a half years or more, while recruitment conducted separately by other government agencies also takes considerable time.
Officials said the initiative is also linked to the government’s election manifesto to increase employment opportunities.
After assuming office, the government published “Statistics of Government Employees 2025” on 30 June. In his message in the publication, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said the government had planned to recruit nearly 5 lakh government employees as per commitment.
Over 26 lakh unemployed
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, more than 26 lakh people are unemployed in the country.
Beyond the official figure, many people face labour-market uncertainty due to inadequate employment opportunities, underemployment and low-income jobs.
Against this backdrop, filling the vacancies could create opportunities for jobseekers. However, experts say recruitment alone cannot resolve the broader employment problem.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told TBS, “Unemployed people are not getting job opportunities, while government offices are unable to properly perform their assigned responsibilities due to the manpower crisis.”
She said the recruitment initiative was important but stressed that the entire process must be transparent to ensure qualified candidates are appointed.
“Recruitment can be carried out in phases. This would reduce financial pressure on the government while also making it easier to properly implement the recruitment process,” Fahmida said.
Experts also recommended setting clear deadlines for recruitment, completing the process within four to six months where feasible, and introducing combined or cluster-based examinations for similar posts.
They said such measures could reduce the time and financial burden on jobseekers while easing the administrative workload of recruiting agencies. Strict monitoring will also be needed to prevent question-paper leaks, irregularities, nepotism and corruption.
Breakdown of vacancies
According to the statistics, currently 1,464,350 of the approved 1,986,272 posts are occupied, leaving 521,922 vacant posts.
Major vacancies are in administration, health, education, law enforcement, technical services and other public service sectors.
The highest number of vacancies, 82,216, is in Grade 20, followed by 79,868 in Grade 16. Grade 10 has 68,413 vacancies, Grade 11 has 52,624 and Grade 9 has 49,984. Many Grade 9 posts are recruited through the Bangladesh Civil Service.
There are also 42,035 vacancies in Grade 13, 30,505 in Grade 14, 27,134 in Grade 15, 23,879 in Grade 19 and 20,968 in Grade 17.
Government departments and directorates account for the largest share, with 301,152 vacant posts. Autonomous bodies and corporations have 199,384 vacancies, while ministries and divisions have 6,808 and divisional and deputy commissioners’ offices have 14,578.
The government is now reassessing which vacancies can be filled quickly, considering approval status, organisational structures, recruitment rules and the progress of ongoing recruitment.
Recruitment exams may change
The government is also considering changes to recruitment examinations and mark distribution.
According to ministry sources, the marks for written and viva examinations for direct recruitment to Grades 11-20 may be restructured, with a proposal to allocate 50 marks to each test to reduce reliance on memorised learning and give greater importance to candidates’ practical skills and competence.
The government is also working on updated examination rules and assessment methods to make recruitment more transparent and efficient. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission is separately working to modernise the syllabus and evaluation methods for BCS and other recruitment examinations.
Recruitment channels
Recruitment mainly takes place through the PSC, ministries and departments, and contractual or outsourcing arrangements for project-based positions.
The PSC conducts BCS and non-cadre examinations for many officer-level posts, while many Grade 11-20 positions are filled by ministries, departments and directorates.
Bangladesh Bank conducts recruitment for state-owned banks. Government agencies also hire personnel on a contractual or outsourcing basis for projects and specialised work.
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