Apex Footwear, the largest shoe making and exporting company in Bangladesh, today announced that job applicants will no longer need to fulfil any English language skills requirement as adequate communication proficiency takes precedence over language.

"From today, English language skills is not a requirement for jobs at Apex Footwear," said Managing Director Syed Nasim Manzur at a discussion on Skills Gap and Youth Employment in Bangladesh.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) organised the event at BRAC Inn.

Nasim announced the decision instantly amid a heated debate on whether English is a major skill such as communication.

"The skills related to productivity and communication are required more as the country is graduating to a developing nation from the least developed category," he added.

Manzur's disclosure was welcomed by some job seekers present at the time who alleged that they face trouble in securing recruitment as English skills have been made a requirement for private sector jobs.

Fresh graduates prefer to have high-level jobs in air-conditioned offices as opposed to mid-level positions at factories even if they are paid higher salaries compared to their office colleagues.

The managing director went on to say that 50 students had graduated from reputed universities at the expense of Apex. The company then hired them as store managers.

But 25 out of 50 students refused to join as store managers as they thought it would be beneath them.

"So they left the job because of social stigma," he said.

Besides, most graduates aim to secure for public sector jobs through the through Bangladesh Civil Service examination because of the social perception that government jobs provide better social status.

Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bdjobs, echoed Manzur at the event, moderated by CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun.