Unemployment Created By The Concept Of Employment, Says Nobel Laureate Yunus

Muhammad Yunus, managing directorof Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, takes part in a panel discussion on day one of the 2010 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

Entrepreneurship is the only way to tackle the lack of jobs, according to Nobel Laureate and Founder of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus.

“Job is not the destiny of human beings,” Yunus told BloombergQuint in an interview. The modern education system pushes the youth to work for somebody and eliminates the idea of entrepreneurship, he explained.

Instead, young people need to be made aware that they have a choice between looking for jobs and starting their own business, the Nobel laureate said.

Human beings are not designed to work for someone else. They are independent being, go-getters, problem solvers and it is the whole history of human beings in this planet. When we were in caves, we were not looking for jobs. We didn't send applications from cave no. 5 to cave no.7 saying do you have a job. We didn't do that and that is why we have survived. It is in our DNA.

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Founder, Grameen Bank

‘Separate Bank For The Poor'

On the course that India has followed towards financial inclusion, the Grameen Bank founder cautioned that conventional banks may not be the right medium to provide access to the poor. “Banks are created to serve the rich and not the poor,” he said.

If the government is pushing them, they will take one step, but you need a mile.

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Founder, Grameen Bank

His solution? Special banks to cater to the poor. “Unless you create a bank for the poor you cannot reach those people,” Yunus said.

Yunus spoke to Bloomberg Quint on a wide range of issues including social business and his vision for a world with zero poverty, zero carbon emissions and zero unemployment. You can watch the whole interview here.