Around three-fourths of workers in the light engineering and electronics sector are mismatched in terms of their training and line of work, according to a report by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
100 electronics firms and 123 light engineering firms participated in the study conducted by BIDS.
One of the study's key researchers and senior research fellow Kazi Iqbal stated: "Skill mismatch is higher in the sector and under-education is also common."
On Thursday, the study's findings were presented at the "BIDS Research Almanac 2023" event.
According to the report, more than 60% of field workers lack the necessary education in their line of work.
In FY22 alone, Bangladesh's overall export of light engineering products was $796 million, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh, which is 1.5% of the merchandise export of the country.
The country's light engineering sector offers huge opportunities for investments due to the growing demand for machinery and parts/components from the expanding manufacturing sector, favourable economic policies and attractive incentives.
Experts believe that Bangladesh has the opportunity to support local demand through local production and building up a sector like this will also help the country achieve its goal of maintaining a diverse export basket, which will translate into a more robust and sustainable economy.
