ILO helps over 3,600 young Cambodians find decent job opportunities

PHNOM PENH (ILO News) – Young Cambodians have had the chance to explore decent work opportunities at a series of career fairs organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with the Cambodia Team for Education Program Organization (CTEP).

Job fairs held in Kampong Cham, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces in February 2024 attracted 3,693 attendees, showcasing over 1,700 job opportunities across different industries.

The fairs also helped to inform industry representatives, educators, students, government officials, and job seekers about future employment trends as well as address the skills mismatch in the labour market. In addition, efforts were made to ensure the wide participation of young people from various backgrounds.

“This provincial career fair is a bridge to connect jobseekers and employers. It also serves as an avenue to share knowledge and experience to jobseekers, especially youth who are looking for jobs. This is a wakeup call to all relevant partners to understand the evolving labour market and raise awareness about the change in skills demand. We supported different target groups like persons with disabilities, the LGBT community, youth and girls to attend these fairs, to ensure that they are not left behind because we know that to achieve inclusive employment, we want all those people to get involved. We hope that those young jobseekers gain access to decent employment opportunities and those that are studying gain employment prospects and are equipped for future employment,” said Soksan Chhun, Director of CTEP.

In addition to connecting job seekers with employment opportunities in Cambodia, the career fairs also provided information to job seekers and students on various technical, vocational education and training opportunities as well as a comprehensive overview of the labour market trends, the decent work concept, working conditions and social security, which will help them prepare for their career and emerging skill demands.

“The career fairs served as important networking platforms among different actors to foster multilateral cooperation to ensure those that are at risk of being left behind gain access to decent and productive employment and achieve decent work for all through these inclusive employment services,” said Tun Sophorn, National Coordinator for the ILO in Cambodia.

The career fairs were organized by CTEP, with the support from the ILO through the Decent Employment for Youth in Cambodia” programme phase 2 (DEY II) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Promoting the Global Development Initiative with a Focus on South-South Cooperation in Employment in ASEAN project (ProSSCE-ASEAN), a partnership between the ILO and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China. The events were also held in cooperation with the National Employment Agency at the provincial level and People's Action for Inclusive Development (PAFID), a non-government organization working to support people with disabilities.

For further information please contact:

Tarinee Youkhaw
Advocacy & Knowledge Management Officer
ILO ProSSCE-ASEAN project
Email: youkhaw@ilo.org