More high tech industries needed in Sri Lanka
View(s):Sri Lanka’s labour force needs to migrate to more high tech industries if the country is to achieve what Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea did sometime ago and even to a certain extent what India is doing right now, according to Isuru Tillakawardana, Deputy General Manager, Human Resource Management, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC. Mr. Tillakawardana will be moderating the session ‘Reskilling for the future’ at the upcoming Employers’ Symposium organised by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) under the theme of ‘Repositioning Sri Lanka- Meeting the Employment Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ next month in Colombo. In a media release, the EFC said this year’s theme of the symposium is aligned with the changing business paradigms resulting from the technological advancements, particularly in the realms of information and communication.
The symposium will draw experts from some of the leading EFC member corporates who will bring under the spotlight topical employment-related issues with the ultimate objective of finding sustainable solutions that would enable employers to incorporate best practices and employment strategies suited for their organisations. In the meantime, Mr. Tillakawardana, urging a paradigm shift in bridging the skills gap which is crucial at a juncture when Sri Lanka is aspiring to a macro-economic transition, said that this leap should be tri-pronged. “The traditional agriculture-driven space, vocational qualifications and the service industry – all these aspects should be redesigned as the country approaches the US$ 4000 per capita level.” He was disappointed over the ‘bottlenecks’ which are created in the job market resulting from traditional mindsets conceived in the colonial times, driving many to queue up for government jobs.
“The future labour force in the country should consider exploring less-traversed career paths which are not only in high demand, but also offer better earning capacities than traditional careers.” The gulf between the state and the private sector in terms of reskilling the workforce can be mitigated to a large extent by the former adopting the best practices of the private sector, opines Mr.Tillakawardana. Despite the state institutions investing significantly in training the staff, there is a question of creating value for money’s worth, which is largely attributed to ‘structural issues’ within state organisations, says Mr. Tillakawardana who cites the Singapore experience as a solution in this regard. “Some of the top companies in Singapore are government-owned yet they run on different business principles, thereby generating a lot of revenue and offering better services to people. This is a model we need to replicate in terms of labour relations and managing government owned businesses.”