Businesses still facing labour shortages, survey finds
Businesses still facing labour shortages, survey finds
The chronic labour shortage is still a challenge for many companies in Laos when it comes to filling job vacancies and easing labour uncertainty, a national survey unveiled recently.
The national survey of firms was conducted by Enterprise and Development Consultant Co Ltd (EDC), assign ed by the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) last year.
The 2014 National Firm Survey reported that over 56 percent of companies involved in the survey over the year 2014 reported that they had faced labour shortages and could not source interested job applicants.
The report was unveiled at a recent consultative workshop on the policy recommendation report, which was chaired by LNCCI Vice President Mr Saman Aneka.
In his opening remarks, he said the lack of skilled labourers in Laos was a serious problem for businesses and it was essential that every sector work together to seek proper solutions.
“Many Lao labourers are still facing job competency issues; they are not yet ready to demonstrate their skills, especially in medium and large scale businesses,” he said.
The survey covered 400 business units nationwide, with a small majority of companies expressing concern over the lack of labourers.
More than 84 percent of medium d enterprises and 60 percent of large scale enterprises have faced a shortage of labourers because of fluctuating employee numbers, with workers being hired and leaving every month.
The survey also revealed that the garment industry employed 30,000 workers in 2014 and the industry's demand for labourers is expected to rise even further by 2017.
The majority of private business operators are seriously worried that the labour shortage will have a negative impact on their business operations as well as decrease the confidence of for eign investors considering doing business in Laos.
According to the five-year plan of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare presented at a national meeting recently, over 716,000 additional Lao workers will enter the job market from 2015-2020 but this is estimated to be far from sufficient.
As a result, many public and private companies have called on the government, especially the Ministry of Education and Sp orts, to run more vocational training courses in order to produce more skilled workers to meet the demands of the labour market, both locally and regionally.
