A jobs fair in Labutta township on March 15 linked young training graduates with jobs in manufacturing and service industries.
The job fair was the first of its kind organised by the Linking Markets to Labutta (LLM) project, funded by the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), and brought together 93 training graduates with 15 employer organisations and five government departments.
Swisscontact’s LLM Senior Portfolio Manager Poshan Bahadur KC said more than 70 per cent of the training graduates attending the fair had found jobs at the fair and he expected more would reach agreements with employers in coming days.
He said that more than half a million Myanmar youths entered the job market every year and the majority of them were unskilled. At the same time the manufacturing and service industries were experiencing a chronic shortage of semi-skilled and skilled manpower.
The LLM project provides vocational training to young people in mechanics, garment-making, hospitality, carpentry and masonry. The job fair is the opportunity to bring employers looking for skilled labour together with LLM graduates.
Over three years the LLM project aims to train 1,400 young people from landless households in the Labutta region, in Ayeyarwady Division, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis. Since the project began, late in 2015, 250 young people have been trained, including 120 women.
The jobs fair was attended by more than 160 people and training graduates and employers discussed employment opportunities and conditions.
Mr KC said another jobs fair was planned for later in 2017.
The LLM project is implemented in Labutta by Swisscontact in cooperation with Mercy Corps and Ar Yone Oo, a local NGO.
