Jobseekers asked to change mindset

BRUNEI'S jobseekers should change their mindset in looking for work as "there is a mismatch of career expectations and available jobs", a senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) said yesterday.

Dr Diana Cheong told The Brunei Times in an interview that there was a "very significant mismatch" on what the jobseekers want and the available jobs.

"Most of these jobseekers only want a white-collar clerical job, given they are school-leavers."

"We found that most of the samples chose white-collar jobs preferably in the public sector, but the other problem is that most of them were not even qualified for these type of jobs. These school-leavers are without any clerical skills and practical hands-on skills for the limited jobs they are looking for," she said.

"Something has to be done about this large exodus of school-leavers. Recently, the National Education System for the 21st Century (SPN21) has addressed this, where students are required to stay in school until the age of 15 and with the emphasis on Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) which is good," she said, adding it was a long-term initiative.

Dr Cheong underscored mindsets of the jobseekers needed to be changed, and should look towards alternative jobs such as manual work and semi-skilled professions.

"If you give them VTE and direct clerical skills, and if there was 1,000 clerical positions available, not everybody can take it. It will be oversaturated soon. The problem is very serious, where there is an underlying problem in the whole unemployment market," she said.

"Firstly we need to change the mindsets of the young people. Give them VTE but at the same time push them towards other types of jobs and changing their career expectations so they do not all go for the white-collar jobs. We need to let them appreciate manual work, involving skills and crafts to be electricians, plumbers and farmers for example," she explained.

However, Dr Cheong said something must also be done within the sector for the young to take up these semi-skilled professions "It is not as simple as blaming the young people for not wanting to do certain jobs in the private sector and manual jobs."

"We found that in the private sector and within these kind of manual jobs, their employees are usually very badly paid, there is low job security. These young people are not a lost cause. They choose these jobs (clerical jobs) because they are secure jobs and know that at least they get paid in government. In the private sector, quite a few of them have worked before, but said they left their jobs because of poor working conditions, lack of pay and job security," she said.

Dr Cheong said these were some of the findings after the CSPS conducted a study in 2009 titled "CSPS report: A Study of Unemployment Issues Among Registered Jobseekers in Brunei Darussalam".

In the report, "reservation wage" was recommended with the government needing to ensure an adequate quality of life and standard of living, which can meet the expectations of Bruneian school leavers.

Dr Cheong explained that a reservation wage was about $200 to $300 a month, used for buying food and petrol for cars. "But these jobs are only paying $200 to $300, so why should they go to work? " she said.

"So there has to be a multi-agency approach. Give them VTE, change the mindsets of the youth to more private sector and manual work, but at the same time, something has to be done to improve the working conditions in this area," she said.

"I think it is a problem in most countries, where the labour market is hierarchical. Usually the more manual type of jobs are seen as lower down. But in the West and in developing countries, this has changed. In Australia and in the West, a plumber, electrical and craftsperson actually earns much more than an officer."

Dr Cheong said although the study was done a couple of years back, it was still relevant because it was the only empirical and academic study on unemployment.

However, Dr Cheong said the study has a very restricted study, as it is restricted to a list of jobseekers signed up with the Labour Department.

"It is not a true reflection of the unemployment rate, because people who have signed up with the department as job-seekers may already have a job. Those that are inclined to sign on with the department are usually school-leavers," she said.

"This is a good study because our sample is very big. You will see that at the Labour department, every year we talk about 6,000 or 7,000 registered jobseekers that need a job. Our sample is a good representative figure, where we interviewed 636 jobseekers which is a big number," she said.

"This sample (636 participants) is a representative of the 6,000 or 7,000, and is basically 74 per cent of 6,000 or 7,000," she said, adding they had 99 per cent confidence in the accuracy of the sample. The Brunei Times