On 11 March 2026, Bangladesh Business and Disability Network (BBDN) convened representatives from leading disability-focused organizations, development partners, and skills development institutions to examine the persistent gap between skills training and sustainable employment for persons with disabilities.
The discussion highlighted that while access to skills development and employer engagement has expanded significantly, employment retention and long-term career progression continue to face structural and systemic challenges. Participants identified key barriers, including gaps in the transition from training to employment, limited job quality and career pathways, workplace inclusion challenges, psychosocial factors, family influence, fragmented coordination, and the need to rethink conventional job matching approaches.
Stakeholders proposed a range of strategic recommendations, including strengthening post-placement support and retention mechanisms, conducting comprehensive needs assessments, integrating psychosocial and career counselling, enhancing workplace inclusion, developing centralized candidate databases, expanding collaboration with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and adopting a more coordinated, demand-driven employment model.
The discussion concluded with a shared call for a holistic livelihood approach that connects skills development, employer engagement, workplace adaptation, and long-term retention into a single, integrated ecosystem to achieve meaningful and sustainable employment outcomes for persons with disabilities.
To learn more about the discussion click: https://www.bbdn.com.bd/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Discussion-on-Skills-Employment-of-Persons-with-Disabilities-Final_compressed.pdf