Motivation to Serve and Vision for Future: Perspectives of Bangladeshi Civil Servants

Bangladesh celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence in 2021 and has moved from being considered a ‘bottomless basket’ to middle-income status. However, with this graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) group to middle-income country status, the country will lose benefits in terms of market access, intellectual property rights, and export subsidies. The study is an initiative to address the readiness of the public sector to handle the challenges of post-LDC graduation by mapping the opinions of young and mid-senior civil servants on this issue. This understanding is also important to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), particularly to attain Goal 16 to have effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions. The study looks at factors associated with civil servants’ job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, including the structure and processes of civil service, training, capacity building, office environment, and career prospects. It also identifies existing and likely future problem areas and possible solutions to enable civil servants to deliver better service.