Skills gap highest in construction industry according to new report

• 10 August 2018
• Local News
• 1046 Views

A new survey conducted by Cambodia’s National Employment Agency (NEA) in collaboration with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) showed that in 2017, the skills gap (when existing staff cannot perform up to the level required by employers) in the construction sector ranked the highest among ten business sectors.

The report entitled “Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps in the Cambodian Labour markets: Evidence from the Employer Survey 2017” identified Cambodia’s workforce situation and key primary data as a source for employers to demand what skills are required and which to invest in.

The survey is the result of more than 600 sampling establishments in 10 business sectors representing 4,571 total establishments employing about 962,972 workers. It showed that the construction sector is affected by a skills gap at a rate of 44%, the highest among all sectors while 29.3% of total respondents admitted to having encountered the issue of skills gaps.

In addition, the survey also identified the top five skills shortages by sector in 2017. For construction, those five skills shortages are oral communication skills, team work skills, problem solving skills, strategic management skills, and office admin skills.

However, although the construction sector experienced the highest rate of skills gaps, this sector, according to the respondents, has provided training of up to 32.5% in 2017, just behind the finance and insurance sector which stood at 38.8%.

In regards to the share of establishments that planned to introduce new products, services or technologies or to expand or switch to new markets, 58% of respondents said yes for the construction sector.

Meanwhile, a think tank comprising both private and public institutions gathered together to call for more internships and training programmes for students and workers, especially for construction-related jobs (read more).