Cambodia faces a labour crisis

PHNOM PENH Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism says the tourism industry still lacks sufficient skilled labour to meet an anticipated double digit growth in tourism annually to 2020.

Khmer Time quoted the a ministry official saying only about 20% of the workers in the tourism industry have professional training.

“The number will need to rise dramatically by 2020 to accommodate the growth forecast for the industry… to maintain sustainable growth in the sector, the services and hospitality sectors must achieve higher standards.”

The industry already employs about 620,000 people but the industry will need more than 1 million employees by 2020.

The ministry source added that only 500 Cambodians had completed an ASEAN course on standards and service in tourism and hospitality, and they are registered with the ASEAN secretariat.

Certified courses in hospitality like the one offered by the ASEAN secretariat are rare in Cambodia and can only be found at a few schools in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the report said.

According to Asian Development Bank, tackling the skills gap is a key challenge facing Cambodia if it is to maintain its impressive tourism growth.

ADB Economist chief, Shang-Jin Wei, said most of the country’s labour force is young, but often not equipped with skills that match business needs, so the challenge for policymakers is to address this gap and mismatch.

“Developing a more educated, employable and productive workforce is essential for Cambodia to broaden its economy beyond the current four mainstays of garment manufacturing, tourism, construction and agriculture and to sustain high growth.”

During January to November last year, the country welcomed 4,200,432 international travellers, up 5% from 4,002,196 in 2014, according the tourism ministry latest data.