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| Wednesday, 11 August 2004 |
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Employment - an urgent need
From now, for the next ten years or so, the working-age population of this country will ride at its peak. The country will see a large number of young people entering the working age and seeking employment. The biggest slice of the population will be between the ages of 20-40, from now until 2020. After this peak, another phenomenon that is well known to us will take over- the population will begin to age and a large portion will be over 60 years or close to retirement. What does this imply? In other countries where similar trends were observed, a peak in the working aged population was considered a boon. A bonus. This is when the country can achieve maximum rate of economic development by deploying a huge labour force for productive ventures. In the coming decade, 275,000 young people will seek employment annually. 140,000 pensioners will withdraw from the labour force every year, leaving the state with the job of creating 135,000 new employment avenues of the young people, on a yearly basis. This is not a task to be taken lightly. But in the case of Sri Lanka, the question nags- are we ready? Is the country prepared to take up the challenge of providing them all suitable employment and avenues of income generation? It is both an opportunity and a challenge. What are Sri Lankan policy-makers doing to prepare the country, its public and private sectors, to meet the demands of this influx of young blood into the labour force? Already unemployment and under-employment is an issue. Sri Lanka has a curiously high rate of unemployment among the more educated sections. Whereas unemployment rate of people who have studied up to O/L level is just 7% (Central Bank), after a university degree some astonishing 16% remain in need of suitable employment. This is an issue that has begged for a solution for many years. Private sector employers would much rather train school leavers who are more willing to learn than to employ university graduates whom they deem ill-prepared for employment in the competitive world out there. The country has a dearth of mid-level technical and vocational education that can prepare more young people for real-world employment in a practical and hands-on fashion. In South Korea, when a similar bulge in working age population came about, they increased secondary and tertiary-level education by 50%, transforming and directing this human capital for effective economic development. The country's private sector increased apprenticeship programmes and more muscle was provided for family-and-self owned employment ventures. As the public sector has put a lid on being a prolific employer, the state will have to look at other avenues of keeping this working population gainfully employed and contributing to national economic development. The private sector has to be encouraged to invest in more training and human resource development. Banks and financial institutions must be encouraged to provide adequate support for self employment, which has already become the income means of a large section of society. |
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by Tharuka Dissanaike
