Employment problems were discussed at the strategic session in Pavlodar
More than 60 people took part in brainstorming, including employers, heads of colleges and representatives of employment centers of Pavlodar region. Together with experts, they identified the main problematic issues of employment and offered their solutions.
The brainstorming session was held at the Center for the Development of Youth Initiatives. The strategic session was opened by the head of BTS Education, Sayasat Nurbek, who joined the discussion via videoconference. He spoke about some of the conclusions of the study that experts conducted in the Pavlodar region. Among them, for example, is the difference between the expectation of job seekers and the offer of employers in salary matters. The survey showed that 3 out of 4 unemployed people would like to receive at least 150 thousand tenge per month, when only 10% of employers are ready to provide such conditions to the candidate.
- It turns out that it is easier for a certain number of unemployed people not to work and receive targeted social assistance for their family, - said Sayasat Nurbek. - This is one of the essential issues that you need to pay attention to. And it needs to be solved either by increasing the proposed salary, or by giving candidates, if they have several qualifications, the opportunity to combine.
In addition, as BTS Education found out, unemployment in the region has a female face - more than 60% of the unemployed today are women. At the same time, more than half of the applicants do not have any profession. Brainstorming participants had to find their own solutions to these problems.
The strategic session started in six different directions. For example, representatives of industrial enterprises raised the issue of the prestige of working professions. They suggested restoring the interest of young people in such specialties as metallurgist, welder and mechanic. According to industry workers, this can be done through career guidance and practical work in labor lessons in schools. At the next table, service sector workers said that college students should be given the opportunity to earn money at the study stage. To do this, the educational institutions of technical and vocational education have the most important thing - the necessary equipment.
- I have toured several colleges in our region and I can say that not every enterprise has such equipment as they have installed, - said the head of Troya LLP, Raphael Brazinsky. - Small and medium-sized businesses could order the production of certain goods from educational institutions, and students could do this work. Then they will understand that they can really earn money by getting a professional specialization.
All the proposals announced at the strategic session were promised to be taken into development. Akim of Pavlodar region Abylkair Skakov, who also participated in the brainstorming session, expressed hope that this would help develop applied measures to solve employment problems.
- Today we are making a big bet on our colleges, - he said. - First of all, they should prepare for the regional economy and cover the domestic labor market. In addition, it should be understood that the time when the unemployed had to go to employment centers has already passed. Now mobile employment centers are needed, which themselves will search for applicants in the area of the same markets and other crowded places. Globally, we need an end-to-end employment system that could be used by everyone, employers, HR services of large companies, job seekers, employment centers and college management.
The head of the region stressed that only at the strategic session the interaction of the parties interested in the development of the labor market should stop. The result of this work should be the formation of a regional action program in the field of employment.
The press service of the akim of Pavlodar region
Photo by Valery Bugaev