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Women’s participation in the workforce is a cornerstone of inclusive economic growth yet recent trends in Bangladesh point to a worrying reversal. New data shows that the country’s labour force has shrunk for the first time in over a decade, with the vast majority of those exiting being women, erasing years of hard-won progress in female employment. This op-ed unpacks the deeper structural and social factors driving women out of the workforce, and what this means for the future of work and gender equality in the region.

The article was written by researchers from the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) as part of the project, “Gender Implications of the Future of Work in South Asia: Insights from Garment Manufacturing in Bangladesh and India,” supported under the FutureWORKS Asia initiative — part of the FutureWORKS Collective, a global effort supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Read the full article, published in The Daily Star on 24 September 2025.