Pilot Survey of Labour Market Needs in Georgia

Tourism, Apparel, ICT, Food Processing

Methodology• Four sectors: Tourism, Apparel, ICT, and Food

Processing• Training of four MoESD staff members, plus

involvement of representatives from Geostat and MoES- General research process- Qualitative methods: Focus groups, in-depth

interviews and real experience- Quantitative methods: sampling, questionnaire

development, Excel Pivot Tables- Document analysis: existing reports and data on

internet• 50 companies surveyed by telephone in each sector in

February, 2012• Supplementary methods: relevant documents, in-depth

interviews with stakeholders, official data

Difficulties in Finding Employees (I)

Tourism

Apparel

ICT

Food processing

54%

64%

28%

14%

14%

10%

12%

46%

28%

8%

40%

24%

4%

6%

16%

4%

12%

12%

Very difficult Somewhat difficult Average Somewhat easy Very easy DK/RA

How easy is it for you to find a qualified employee?

Companies who have looked for an employee/managed to hire an employee

Tourism Apparel ICT Food processing

66%

56%62%

56%55%

79%

55%46%

Looked for an employee Succeeded in hiring

Difficulties in Finding Employees (II)

• In all four sectors companies find it hard to find a qualified employee

• About half of surveyed companies were looking for employees in the past 12 months

• Actual hiring rate among these companies was low, except in the apparel sector

• In apparel, 79% of companies succeeded in hiring. However, in conversation with apparel companies it became apparent that turnover of employees is high in this sector

Difficulties in Finding Employees

In your most needed category of employee, what level of education are you primarily looking for?

Tourism

Apparel

ICT

Food processing

10%

28%

16%

24%

42%

4%

56%

34%

46%

62%

16%

32%

6%

12%

10%

Vocational Education University degree No formal training, only experience matters DK/RA

Level of Education Required

Level of Education Required

• Generally, experience is much more valued than a formal education. This is particularly true for tourism and apparel

• In apparel, university education is least sought, while vocational education is more important than in the other three sectors

• Where university education is highly demanded (tourism and ICT), it is not because of the knowledge gained at universities per se, but because of the perception that graduates would be generally more intelligent and capable of performing basic tasks

Tourism

Apparel

ICT

Food processing

54%

4%

46%

22%

28%

42%

18%

48%

10%

6%

4%

8%

6%

16%

6%

10%

12%

20%

8%

Internet advertisement Personal acquaintances Educational institutions Newspapers and local media

Other

Ways of Hiring

Ways of Hiring

• Internet advertisement is most important in tourism and ICT sectors

• For apparel and food processing, personal acquaintances play the most important role

• Companies rarely address educational institutions, including VET centers, to find potential employees

Complaints About Lack of Professional Manners Amongst Applicants

Tourism Apparel ICT Food processing

14%

44%

22%

34%

- Clear labour mismatch exists- Although most companies tried to find new employees in the

past 12 months, only half succeeded – regardless of the sector

- Lack of “professional manners” is often mentioned by companies- Could be suggested to VET centers to create simulations of

real-life situation so that students can understand the need for a sense of responsibility

- VET colleges are rarely used for recruitment purposes- This suggests that there is a room for VET centers to reach

out to relevant companies

Conclusions and Recommendations

Sector-specific Conclusions (I)

• Tourism:- VET centers should also focus on language skills

and good professional manners

• ICT:- Raise awareness of VET programs and involve

companies in the VET process, via ‘praktikums’ - The most demanded employee category for ICT

companies is ‘General IT Specialist’ - Good opportunity for VET programs to fill this gap

with VET graduates.

Sector-specific Conclusions (II)

• Apparel:- VET programs should be located in the Adjara region

rather than in Kutaisi (due to size of companies)- Given the rates of growth in the sector, the demand

for qualified labor from apparel companies is likely to rise and the government can prepare for this by expanding VET programs in Adjara.

• Food processing:- Specializations vary and experience is far more

demanded than training- VET centers can focus on training employees of large

companies