Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Youth fear joblessness

Youth fear joblessness

Youths sit on the riverside in Phnom Penh yesterday. A new survey found that 49 per cent of people aged between 15-35 cited unemployment as their main concern.
Youths sit on the riverside in Phnom Penh yesterday. A new survey found that 49 per cent of people aged between 15-35 cited unemployment as their main concern. Vireak Mai

Youth fear joblessness

Unemployment is the top worry for Cambodian youth, according to a survey released on Friday.

Almost half – 49 per cent – of 630 people surveyed across the country cited unemployment as their main concern in the survey conducted by the Youth Committee for Unity and Development, a coalition of Cambodian youth associations.

Thol Dyna, a researcher at the Analyzing Development Issues Center (ADIC) who authored the study, said worries about unemployment were mostly due to poor education quality, low salaries and few formal job opportunities.

“Most of them are still in high school or university. High school students are concerned over their future, while university students are especially concerned with finding a job immediately,” he said.

Dyna said that “youths” were defined as men and women from the ages of 15 to 35, while respondents came from five regions: Phnom Penh, Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri, the border areas of Poipet and Banteay Meanchey, and Kampong Thom.

Quality of education ranked as the second-largest apprehension for youth, with 30 per cent of respondents citing a lack of schools and qualified teachers.

Concerns about security came in last, with 21 per cent of respondents saying drug use, criminals and traffic accidents were their largest worries.

“We hope that our research will help the government or another national institute to find solutions to the issues our youth face, because young people are the main resource for the country’s development,” he said.

Chek Lim, deputy director general of the youth department at the Ministry of Education, said the conclusions offered a way for the government to develop the country’s youth.

“We want to know clearly about youth’s concerns, so that the ministry later on can further define its action plan to target [the demographic],” he said.

Even if youth unemployment is a significant concern, gauging its scale is “difficult to know in the absence of meaningful data”, said Chan Sophal, director of the Centre for Policy Studies.

According to the World Bank, Cambodia’s youth unemployment rate in 2013 was only 0.7 per cent.

“The informal economy is quite significant,” said Sophal.

“[Youth] always have some work to do with relatives, or, especially right now, the construction sector is booming thanks to the real estate sector.”

Sophal said that nevertheless, university graduates and other pre-professionals were faced with a “mismatch in skills”, with too many studying business or management and too few choosing more technical fields, such as engineering.

MOST VIEWED

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • PM to open new Siem Reap int’l airport December 1

    Prime Minister Hun Manet and Chinese leaders would jointly participate in the official opening of the new Chinese-invested Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport on December 1. The airport symbolises a new page in the history of Cambodian aviation, which will be able to welcome long-distance flights to

  • Minimum wage set at $204, after Sep 28 vote

    The minimum wage for factory workers in the garment, footwear and travel goods industries for 2024 has been decided at $204 per month, with the government contributing $2. Following several negotiation sessions, the tripartite talks reached an agreement during a September 28 vote, with 46 of 51 votes supporting the $202 figure.

  • Cambodian diaspora laud Manet’s UN Assembly visit

    Members of the Cambodian diaspora are rallying in support of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s forthcoming visit to the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in the US’ New York City this week. Their move is an apparent response to a recent call by self-exiled former