One of the objectives of the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Garment Industry Productivity Center (GIPC) is to facilitate communications among stakeholders in the garment industry to strengthen the workforce development system and thereby contribute to improved competitiveness of the industry in Cambodia. In that spirit, GIPC invited representatives of the education and training sector to share their views on the role of education in industrial workforce development at a forum held on January 31, 2007.

Representatives from twenty-one public and private universities and institutes, the Ministries of Labor and Vocational Training and Education, Youth, and Sports, and industry training initiatives (Better Factories Cambodia and the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility) gathered to hear garment industry economist Lynn Salinger present results of GIPC’s recent workforce assessment in the garment industry. The assessment was conducted among factories, garment factory workers, youth and post-secondary students, and education and training institutions.

While most of the 320,000 jobs in Cambodia’s garment industry are filled by sewing operators, each of the 300 factories currently manufacturing here seeks to fill a range of technical and management positions with skilled engineers, planners, and supervisors. Yet the assessment found that a disconnect exists between factories, on the one hand, who seek skilled Cambodian college graduates, and college students, on the other, who are reluctant to consider employment in the garment industry because of its reputation as an employer solely of unskilled labor. This disconnect is further exacerbated by the extremely limited opportunities for higher education students to acquire any garment industry-specific training or awareness as part of their studies.

Attendees at the GIPC educators’ workshop discussed how GIPC might bridge communications gaps between garment industry employers and educators regarding their mutual needs. Educators pointed out that they do not perceive any outreach by factories to their graduates. For example, factory recruitment needs are not posted in any transparent way for graduates to consider. At the same time, factories say they do not know what kinds of specialized training programs exist in Cambodia.

A number of next steps are underway to enhance the flow of information in both directions:

• On the industry side, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) is organizing an education subcommittee of members who are interested in interacting with the education community.
• GIPC will prepare a directory for GMAC of Cambodian higher education institutions and the business and technical training options that exist.
• First-ever participation by the garment industry in Cambodia’s third Career Forum, to be organized by the French-Cambodian Chamber of Commerce and held June 1-2, 2007, will provide garment industry career information and recruitment guidelines to young professionals.
• Educators will pursue outreach to alumni, to track whether they are satisfied with the training they received from their alma mater, and to employers, to ask what graduate profiles they seek when hiring.
• Educators also discussed concrete ways that GIPC could enrich current engineering and business course offerings through the provision of new curricula, course material, teacher training, guest lecturers, and access to internship opportunities for students.
• For its part, the Royal Government of Cambodia might support education and technical and vocational training efforts by establishing competency standards for garment industry job categories to guide educators as they review degree programs, curricula, and course offerings.