The minister of ministry of industry, commerce and employment (MoICE), Lyonpo (minister) Karma Dorji, said that the government is confident to achieve the target of creating 97.5% quality jobs by 2027, with the current reforms and transformation in the education sector and the royal civil service commission (RCSC).
“Looking at the reforms and the transformation and other ongoing activities in the country, I feel that we can achieve the rate in the 13th five year plan in line with all those reforms and transformation that are currently happening in the country,” the minister said.
The minister said that focus is being given to jobs that people can perform, be it in the private, public and government sector so that people can make a decent earning. “For a long time, the government has been studying and even now, we are working on the creation of employment opportunities in the country,” he said.
The government is currently providing skill trainings, up-skilling for those who are already employed, followed by youth engagement programs to provide experience. The ministry provides monthly stipend of Nu 5000 for one year so that the burden is shared with the parent company who provides skills and experiences to the youths.
The government is also providing business entrepreneurship programs where various trainings and skills are provided so that the participant will gain ideas on how to start business, which includes start-ups too.
Additionally, with the country soon to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) category, the minister said that the country will attract export oriented foreign direct investment (FDI) companies.
“The FDI companies will not have much interest in Bhutan with less population and market rather the companies will be export oriented and with such skills and up-skilling, Bhutanese youth will get opportunities to work in these company creating ample opportunities,” the minister said.
Concerning the attrition rate, the minister shared that it is creating both opportunities and challenges in the country. “If the person is at the start point of the job career, it can be easily filled but if the attrition is at a point where it is needed to be filled by an experienced person then it is very difficult to fill the vacant post since it will take time for people to gain those experiences,” said the minister.
According to the minister, currently with such challenges, some of the institutions including colleges in the country are undergoing major changes which, will help curb the challenges of unemployment rate and with the high attrition rate.
“The college students will be linked with the relevant subjects and trainings related to the jobs in the market and after their graduation the students will have enough experience be it in the field of business management, IT technology, finance and accounts, marketing and public relations, amongst others, “said the minister, adding that this will be beneficial to both the individuals and country and solve the challenges that are faced, such as high unemployment rate and high attrition rate.
Similarly, the minister said that the RCSC have started to assemble young and bright students for scholarship in the country. After the XII standard, these students will be sent to renowned universities to study relevant trainings and skills that are available in job market.
“When they return back from the universities, unlike before, where the individuals had to sit for the RCSC examinations, this group will not have to wait to appear the exams and will be directly employed since they will have skills and experience to do that particular job,” said the minister.
The minister also shared that before there wasn’t any forecast on how the students will be placed after their studies and with the mismatch between their course and in job market, many youths were left unemployed.
In addition, the minister said that with what is currently happening, such as unemployment and attrition rate, there will be a gap between these two challenges. However, in the next few years it will help to fill these gaps.
“With this transformation and with the continuous process, there won’t be any mismatch between the course and the job market rather there will be a relevant field and relevant economy in the country, “said the minister.
Meanwhile, the minister shared that even developed countries don’t have 100% employment and that unemployment rate ranges from 3% to 5%. Currently the global unemployment rate has increased from 5% to 7%.
“It will be very difficult to make 100% job employment in the country as even the developed countries don’t have 100% employment rate,” said the minister, adding that what the government means to say is that it will create more opportunities in the future and will also depend upon the individual’s prospective.
Sherab Dorji from Thimphu
