More graduates less graduate jobs; government’s full employment afar

“It is not that we don’t have enough jobs, we have but it’s a mismatch of job requirements and what graduates look for”.

The above statement is a cliche of labor ministers and anyone who talks on unemployment in Bhutan. This is the statement that rings ears of the graduates every time they've to listen of unemployment. The government had stuck to their stance that there are enough jobs in the country.

Partially, I agree with this and partially not. It’s true that we have jobs in the market but these are not-for-graduate jobs. Those jobs don’t require theories and kind of studies that graduates has gone through. After undergoing Bachelor’s degree for three to four years just to get into some jobs which aren't for graduate qualifications, it isn't fair to the kind of time and money they've invested in. This is a big kick to their qualification.

There are enough jobs but there aren't enough jobs for graduates.

Government has been telling over and again to seek opportunities in corporate and private sectors for jobs rather than confining to old thinking that civil service is the first preference. Yes, time is changing, corporate and private sectors are doing well in job packages they have to offer. The density of thought that civil service should be the foremost option is steadily lessening. There are graduates who have seen greener pasture in corporate and private sectors. Nonetheless, general assumption that civil service jobs are the most secured still pervades across the minds of graduates which keeps alight the hope to sit on government chairs.

Source: Google

Whatever is the number of vacancies, how dim the possibility to get through it appears, graduates put up their ticket to sit for Civil Service Exam. For most of the graduates, they’re compelled to sit for examination as handful vacancies are being announced for corporate and private sectors. The vacancies as far as I have heard and seen in Newspapers are minimal. It could hardly be in few hundreds. We have few thousands with degree passports at their credit.

Our private and corporate sectors haven’t matured so much that it can absorb in flooding graduates. Neither can government machinery for barely more than a half million population require huge human resources to take in graduate population for the sake of employment. Until such time our private and corporate sectors mature to grow in its scale to provide enough for graduates, this perennial issue of unemployment must go on. We have to keep on pointing fingers and graduates have to keep on whining.

Government has said graduates to change their attitude and accept dignity of labor. They've said to start business. But these aren't working and it won’t work. Changing attitude isn't easy. Inculcating dignity of labor would go long down the line, it is attached with money. If you’re paid handsomely, dignity of labor is with it. If you are not paid enough, dignity is nowhere with it. It appears dignity is money today. Go to Australia and US, you clean and sweep toilets, still dignity of labor is with it. Here, we cannot put dignity of labor in cleaning, sweeping, labor work and all of those which we dub ‘blue collar jobs’. We can’t unless our economy could afford.

The solution for this perpetuating unemployment issue is through growth in private and corporate sectors. The government must look through beyond taxes to provide space for growth of private sectors. With the kind of taxes we are imposed, future entrepreneurs, business tycoons are made to die at its buds.

Government need to see how they can multiply entrepreneurs, convert unemployed graduates to enterprising businessmen, grow indigenous business titans, etc. This could be few solutions for all of economic problems. However, this isn't overnight miracle. It would take time. It would require politics to frame policies. It would require government machinery, the engagement of general people to implement and make these come through.

We need to breed our own businessmen and multiply it exponentially.