Bangladesh, Sept. 5 -- Bangladesh's development sector has long been regarded as something of an exception to the country's wider labour-market problems.

NGO professionals, project officers, researchers and consultants were generally seen as relatively secure, educated workers employed by well-funded organisations with a strong social purpose.

That perception is increasingly difficult to sustain.

Behind the sector's mission statements and development programmes lies a growing problem of employment insecurity.

A significant number of development professionals now work on short-term, project-based contracts, often with little certainty about what happens when the funding ends.

A career that once offered relatively stable employment an...