Bhutan’s Employment Conundrum: Challenges and Opportunities

The increasing unemployment, absence of government action in job creation, small market and lack of entrepreneurial opportunities are causing trouble to the Bhutanese population, especially youths, in recent years. The young and educated population is looking for greener pastures overseas and economy is surprisingly becoming remittance reliant. There are multiple factors within the country that needs government attention in order to improve the employment rate for university graduates. The country has such a small private sector that it hardly can create any new workplaces. The biggest employer is the public sector – that too is shrinking in recent years – in response to costs cutting measures. This study will focus on the historical structure of Bhutanese job market, current trends and future prospects and what it means for the Bhutanese economy in general.