Thailand
Cambodia’s 99.3% job rate among world’s best
Cambodia’s employment rate continued to be strong at 99.3 percent and remained one of the best in the world.
This was recently disclosed by Ith Samheng, Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, as he hailed the role of the National Employment Agency (NEA) for this achievement
Presiding over a lecture on ‘Labour Market and Economic Development,’ at the Royal School of Administration, the minister described the vision, mission and success of the ministry in developing the labour market in Cambodia and thereby contributing to the development of the national economy.
The ministry, he said, has continued to increase employment opportunities in the country through NEA by disseminating labour market information, expanding consultations, providing employment guidance, organising job forums and imparting training in job market preparation skills. It is also providing the option to the workers to seek overseas employment opportunities in a legal manner with good working conditions and high income.
According to a release, Samheng stated that the ministry paid close attention to the development of the labour market by responding to changes in the socio-economic and technological structure. It also strengthens social welfare through active participation in the implementation of important national strategies and policies set by the Royal Government.
The minister said that the labour market situation in Cambodia looked bright and the employment rate remained high at 99.3 percent of the total workforce, and the jobs created today are mostly in modern industries bringing more value to the national economy.
“We can see higher productivity (of workers), more skilled labour, better working conditions and better incomes,” Samheng said.
According to him, the ministry is always working to improve the working conditions of the employees and for the harmonization of industrial relations. It is also successfully implementing the 10 recommendations of Prime Minister Hun Sen set out during a face-to-face meeting with the workers.
In addition, the Ministry of Labour continued to pay attention to improving the occupational safety and health of workers through legislation, providing quality transportation and also by promoting the participation of employers in starting community nurseries near factory areas.
The Royal Government has been promoting the implementation of the National Social Protection Policy Framework 2016-2025 and the implementation of the Social Security Law 2019 has made Cambodia’s social security system more complete.
In the field of technical, and vocational education and training, the ministry is implementing a skills training programme to increase human capital and skilled labour in tune with the needs of the current and future labour markets.
In addition, the ministry has joined other ministries and institutions to provide skills training to 1.5 million young people free of charge and is also making arrangements for them to get allowances during the training in accordance with the recommendations of the Prime Minister.
According to Vocational Education Specialist Lim Solinn, Cambodia needs to invest heavily in upskilling and reskilling a large number of existing unskilled low-wage workforce in the next 10 years by taking into account the changing nature of jobs as some unskilled and low skills manufacturing jobs will soon disappear as automation and digitisation take hold.
She told Khmer Times recently that upskilling and reskilling the workforce is the only way for Cambodia to avoid the Low and Middle-Income Country syndromes and become a High-Income Country by 2050.
According to the ‘Future of Jobs Report 2023’ released by the World Economic Forum recently, some 83 million jobs will become obsolete in the world in the next five years while 69 million new jobs are to be created.
Digital commerce will lead to the largest absolute gains in jobs in the world – approximately two million new digitally enabled roles are expected, such as e-commerce specialists, digital transformation specialists, and digital marketing and strategy specialists in the next five years.
According to Vichet Lor, Vice President of Cambodia Chinese Commerce Association, young people under 35 constitute 65 percent of the Kingdom’s population, keeping the country’s labour market young and vibrant.
“They are either bi-lingual or trilingual and most of them are also IT-literate. That’s the main reason for the employment rate to remain so high in the country,” he told Khmer Times yesterday.
“This young population is eager to increase their knowledge and capacity and help address the rising demands from the industry for skilled manpower,” Vichet said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501301991/cambodias-99-3-job-rate-among-worlds-best/