Pilot Survey of Labour Market Needs in Georgia

1. Pilot Survey of Labour Market Needs in Georgia Tourism, Apparel, ICT, Food Processing

2. 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

3. Difficulties in Finding Employees (I) How easy isitforyouto find a qualifiedemployee?

4. Difficulties in Finding Employees (II) Companies who have looked for an employee/managed to hire an employee

5. Difficulties in Finding Employees • 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

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

7. 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

9. WaysofHiring • 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

10. Complaints About Lack of Professional Manners Amongst Applicants

11. ConclusionsandRecommendations • 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

12. 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.

13. 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