People · Economy · Progress
Our underlying pillars
People
Cambodia's 9.2 million strong and young workforce is its most valuable asset and resources for economic, social, cultural and environmental development. Hence holistic development of the youth comprising technical, digital and soft skills is essential for the country's economic growth and progress.
PEP Talks aims to be the conversational starter and pathfinder for skill development comprising Diversity, Equity, Inclusion implementation in youth development and at the workplace.
PEP Talks aims to aspire youth, young adults, employers, and decision-makers to participate in this conversation toward the evolution of the workforce in Cambodia.
Underskilled and Underprepared Workforce
"Countries like Cambodia need to remain competitive for the country’s workforce to compete in the region and the global workforce market. The increasing demand in technology and automation is forcing workers to reskill themselves for the new future of work. In Cambodia, this is where workforce reskilling is often focused on digital skills and not enough on human skills, such as social and emotional intelligence, and higher cognitive skills"
- UNDP Cambodia
Most employers in Cambodia are not confident in workers' skills - particular 21st century skills. Likewise, most entry-level workers do not feel confident in their skills with few organizations have infrastructure to adopt lifelong learning and other fair and/or empowering practices to develop resiliency.
Thus, we as a digital citizen has a tendency to create awareness and come together to reshape tomorrow for the younger generation of the workforce. Unless we have a curious mind to understand the root causes, then come to a solution for the change.
Audience insight
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1. Workforce Audience
Entry-Level (24 y.o and under)
- Estimated 250k reach
- Looking for an entry-level position
- Will open a bank account
- Will need a computer
- Looking for a motorbike to get to work/school
- Spending approximately $2k per year on F&B, consumers goods and entertainment -
2. Workforce Audience
Professionals (25 y.o and above)
- Estimated 100k reach
- Looking for a management/ technical position
- Looking to purchase and rent a home/vehicle
- Looking for continued education for themselves
- Looking for healthcare options for parents
- Looking for school for their children
- Spending approximately $10k per year on F&B, consumer goods and entertainment -
3. Employer Audience (Decision-Makers/ Owners/ Managers)
- Estimated 10k reach
- At least 20 speakers at the virtual networking event
- Business Owners looking and learning for solutions for their businesses:
a. Legal
b. HR
c. Tech
d. Training
Economy
The diversity and quality of jobs in Cambodia have gradually improved, but it has not kept pace with the year-on-year fast-paced development of technology which continues to shape the global economy and workforce.
While there have been many initiatives in silos we are still unsure about how at a countrywide scale we can equip individuals and workplaces with holistic skills that will enable them to be agile and adaptable in an ever-evolving global market for a sustainable Cambodian economy.
PEP Talks aims to initiate a meaningful collaborative strategic development roadmap, policy and clear response plans to the emerging skill gap crisis.
To form desired outcomes for the issues, we need to start from understanding the root causes of it. The main issue is due to lack of Technical Skills as a mean of STEAM. Educators as whole are lacking motivation and capacity to teach and educate the younger generation of workforce which can be caused by not having sufficient resources to develop infrastructure at educational institutions and at workplaces. Workforce development starts at a very young age from school, thus, educational institutions are the key activation for youth to growth. Once people grow, economy expands.
Another main issue resulting for an interrupted workforce development streamline is low awareness on the important of Soft Skills. We as an educational practice are not emphasizing enough on how important this lifeskill hack is, not only to be practiced in workplace but in life on a daily bases. We are not practicing enough which lead to the lack of workforce empowerment and fair practices at work. Soft Skills should be implemented as one of the lifeskill for a digital citizen in the 21st century.
One last issue is lacking of Skilled Technicians in the workforce chain due to low capacity to learn and upskills which caused by the influences of traditional social structures. Referring back to World bank's data on Human Capital Index in 2018 indicated a measurement of students enrollment and dropout rates was equal to 0.49 just a barely above Laos and Myanmar. Some traditional beliefs especially in the rural areas in Cambodia find jobs more accessible in the garment industry, agriculture, and family business more accessible than education institutions due to lack of infrastructure, motivation, and educational tools.
Progress
The National Employment Policy has identified increasing employment opportunities and productivity, promoting the development of skills and human resources and strengthening labour market governance as its three main pillars towards employment generation for economic progress.
For Cambodia to progress into becoming a global player its labour-intensive industry needs to transform into a skilled augmented -AI and technology-led job market.
PEP Talks aims to initiate conversations and identity roadmaps to leapfrog into Industry 4.0 for specific sectors like agriculture & food processing, handicrafts & fashion, and more.
