Report shows workforce still lacks skills
Cambodia lacks the skilled labor force necessary to advance the economy and the government must find ways to create more valuable work as it faces fierce regional and international competition, according to a new report released Thursday by the World Bank. The report, “East Asia Pacific at Work: Employment, Enterprise and Well-Being,” touches on Cambodia’s ease of doing business, agrarian economy and minimum wage, but says the lack of education and training among the population remains among the most significant drags on economic improvement. … While the average number of years of schooling received by Cambodians aged 15 years and older has improved since 2005, it still averaged at about six-and-a-half years in 2010, the report notes. About 10 percent of upper secondary students are enrolled in technical and vocational schools, while about two percent of tertiary school students are enrolled in technical schooling. … The report adds that employers are even calling into question the skills of graduates. “In a recent survey of employers regarding the education and skills of their staff and the workforce overall, 76 percent of Cambodian employers claimed that new graduates are not equipped with the right set of skills,” the report says. The World Bank’s report came the same day as a new quarterly Cambodian business confidence survey by ANZ Royal Bank, which showed that while overall confidence in the country’s business sector the past year and next year is “very high,” large businesses might have difficulty finding skilled workers in the future. …
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/report-shows-workforce-still-lacks-skills-58432/
