Manila: Asia and the Pacific must overcome skills gaps and scale up
technical training to create innovative economies able to generate sustainable,
inclusive growth, says a new book by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“While Asia and the Pacific
accounts for almost half of global unemployment, 45% of employers in the region
face difficulty in finding suitable talent in their markets,” said Bindu
Lohani, ADB’s Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable
Development. “Countries in Asia will not be able to create sufficient
employment unless they address the serious skills mismatches that exist in
their labor markets.”
The ADB publication,
Skills Development for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Asia,
looks at the issues, challenges, and potential measures countries could take to
develop the skills needed to promote employment, sustain growth, and improve
global competitiveness. The book, co-published with Springer, consists of
articles from leading experts and policy makers in technical and vocational
education and training.
Shifting away from
the factory-driven growth model of the past requires a technically adept
market-driven labor force able to generate creative, cutting edge ideas and
products. However, the book reveals that Asia’s training systems are struggling
to fill employers’ needs. Even those with graduate degrees are lacking
market-ready technical skills to be absorbed into the workforce.
The large informal
labor force in Asia is also unable to take full advantage of new opportunities
in the modern market economy. In the People’s Republic of China, for example,
there is an annual ‘floating population’ of more than 150 million migrant rural
laborers who regularly seek jobs in cities, but who lack the training to pursue
more skilled work. In India, meanwhile, there are 200 million workers stuck in
low productivity jobs, while around 1 million young people are expected to join
the workforce every month for the next 20 years.
The publication
argues that equipping secondary school and university graduates with employable
skills requires a shift from academically-oriented learning to demand-driven
courses relevant to industry needs. This can be achieved through, for example,
credible national qualification frameworks and certification systems and closer
links amongst schools, universities, and technical and vocational education
providers.
Developing skills of
disadvantaged groups, including women, will bring substantial economic benefits
and help reduce the growing income inequality in the region, according to the
book, which recommends more public-private partnership to increase the
cost-efficiency, quality, and relevance of technical courses.
The publication also
notes that greener economies could generate up to 60 million additional jobs
over the next two decades and lift tens of millions of workers out of poverty.
Green jobs require a mix of new technical skills related to renewable energy,
climate change adaptation, trade, recycling and use, and engineering, which are
not yet addressed adequately by training institutions.