By Kuenzang Choden

Sept 21, 2008-Thimphu: The market is open, jobs aplenty, and yet unemployment is a major issue among the youth today.

What then is the real issue?

It is employability, say experts. They say the bulk of Bhutanese job seekers lack skills and hence are often unemployable.

The human resource development consultant of the labor ministry, Anup Singh (PhD), said Bhutan’s major problem is the lack of technical and professional education.

A research done by Anup Singh found that only 8 to 10% of the jobseekers are skilled making employability a problem for the rest.

Most graduates seeking jobs have social science and liberal arts background and lack specialization.

“They have general skills whereas students with technical background specialize in one skill. In terms of education, social science and liberal arts is fine but there is not much employability,” said Anup Singh. “Business is hi-tech and there is a need for high competency, so we need skilled people.”

In a rapidly technology-dictated market, jobseekers without specific skills and specializations often find themselves rejected by employers. Employers say giving jobs to unskilled workforce doesn’t help their business.

And no studies have been conducted by the government on the changes in market trends. Thus, the labor market remains far away from the jobseekers.

“The major challenge for the labor ministry is to develop a human resource policy based on jobseekers’ educational background and the market demand,” said Anup Singh. 

The consultant added while there is an acute shortage of technical and professional jobseekers, the market on the other hand is inundated with jobseekers with social science and liberal arts background.

However, this doesn’t mean there is no space for social science and liberal arts graduates, he said. “It is the issue of over supply which the market cannot absorb. On the flipside, the demand is more in technical fields.”

Anup Singh suggested that if jobseekers are to be more employable, there is an urgent need to strengthen technical and professional education in the country.

There are 10 technical institutes in the country today - six vocational training institutes, two zorig chusum institutes and two technical colleges. Approximately 1,000 to 1,200 students graduate from the vocational training institutes every year and are absorbed by the government and the corporate and private sectors.

Apart from this, the natural resource college in Lobesa and the health and sciences college in Thimphu produce skilled workforce which is directly absorbed by the government.

Moreover, with huge plans for hydropower industry, graduates with electrical background are mostly in demand compared to other jobs that call for skills in plumbing, construction, and mechanical.

The labor minister, Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi, acknowledged that a skilled workforce is necessary for the cutting-edge competition in the market. 

“On the other hand, every discipline of knowledge, including social sciences, has its due role in society. It is said that innovation and compassion will be the key to success in the 21st century, implying that hard technological marvels as well as soft social science mantras and values are equally important,” he said.

Employers, on the other hand, said given that there is a very small pool of skilled workforce in the country, it is often difficult to retain them because of the rapid market growth.

“There is a mismatch in the human resource and the jobs available in the market. It’s hard to find the right man for the right job,” said the executive director of the Bhutan Power Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), Gyem Tshering.

Chief executive officers say the limited pool of skilled manpower is highly mobile. They say trained and qualified professionals are always on the lookout for better opportunities.