Spring Labor Fair 2012: Mongolia’s high unemployment due to under qualified applicants

The Spring Labor Fair 2012 was held in the Central Palace of Culture of Mongolian Trade Union on April 19th. Around 20 organizations participated in the event, which aims to connect active job seekers with employers.

There were mining, construction, business and economics and other prominent national companies, such as Max, Nomin, Mon-Em Impex, Goyo, Tavan Bogd and APU, offering job opportunities. They were also signing up people for workshops that provide them with special skills – the employers were saying that they are recruiting individuals for 20 different professions, and are interested in hiring individuals with specialized skills. They said that they are willing to train their new employees if they had no previous experience.

At the Central Labor Exchange, there are over 1,000 open positions. There were construction companies that were urgently recruiting workers, as in the spring; construction work around the country speeds up. The organizers said that mining companies have many positions available for people with specialized skills. They have also said that there are more jobs available than the job seekers who arrived at the fair, and it was estimated that in every district of Ulaanbaatar, there are 250 – 400 vacant positions on any given day.

Labor and Care Serviceperson of Chingeltei District O. Purevsuren said, “For the year to support household development, the Chingeltei District is participating in the fair looking for 260 employees.” Out of these available jobs, around 80% of them were of business and service opportunities.

The following is a short interview with Central Labor Exchange official, D. Batdelger.

-It seems that there are so many jobs available but statistics show the unemployment rate is not getting any better. What is the reason for this?

-Companies that are recruiting individuals with special skills are setting very high requirements for new employees. It is because of this reason; many of our young people are not being employed. For example, some jobs require several years of experience, which almost nobody has. Another factor is that the working environment, and wage. Graduates are increasing annually, and we are expecting around 8,000 to 10,000 new graduates this year and they will all begin looking for jobs. But this doesn’t mean they will meet the criteria of the companies.

-Could you elaborate on exactly which sectors require special skills?

-Some companies make contracts with graduate students; those students will be employees as soon as they graduate. Students with geology and cartography skills are the most in demand.

On the other hand, there are many people who are seeking positions in teaching and law. It seems that these two professions are not in demand in society at this time. I think that university enrollment capacity in engineering and technology occupations should be increased. Teenagers should also understand that if they pursue these professions, they will have jobs waiting for them. There are so many companies that are recruiting chefs and cooks. But there are no schools or universities for cooks in Mongolia, except for a few private and independent cooking courses.

Lately, specialized skills are only being taught through private and exclusive study centers and courses. Currently, mining and civil engineering positions are the highest paid jobs. Mining companies are promising upwards of 1 million MNT while the construction companies are paying an average of 800,000 MNT.