Sri Lanka heading towards an unpredictable labour shortage
While the demand for quality and branded local products is increasing worldwide, there is a massive shortage of skilled and unskilled labourers in Sri Lanka’s manufacturing
sector.
The current generation of youth is not willing to work in a factory environment which is one of the reasons for the shortage, according to Shamendra Panditha, Managing Director for Sierra Cables PLC (SCPLC).
He said, “One of the major issues we are facing today in the manufacturing industry is the shortage of skilled and unskilled labourers. Though machinery is automated in the manufacturing sector, we need people for material handling.” There are many other countries where production is cheaper than Sri Lanka like for example Kenya, one of the successful markets that SCPLC has entered, which has enough and more cheap labour, he added.
Mr. Panditha made these comments at a media briefing held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club recently to announce the company’s entry into Fiji.
“While being in a US$1 billion market, where the whole manufacturing and distribution of cables is done, Fiji is a new market where only the manufacturing of cables is done with SCPLC owning a 30 per cent market share,” he said. The company has reached Rs. 2 billion revenue till October 2016, while the target is to reach Rs. 4 billion by the end of the financial year 2016-2017. Tremendous growth is seen in the export market which has amounted to Rs. 170 million during the first half of the year, he added.
Elaborating further on the Kenyan market, Mr. Panditha stated that the government of Kenya has a strong policy ‘Buy from Kenya and build Kenya’ is what is helping SCPLC’s strong growth in the region. It’s very easy to study business in Kenya and getting the approvals from the government in setting up the factory there, unlike in other developed countries, he said.
SLPLC’s entry into Fiji was through a partnership with three other companies, Vinod Patel and Company Ltd which has a 30 per cent market share, RC Manubhai and Co. Ltd which also has a 30 per cent market share, and Progressive Investment (Fiji) Ltd with a 10 per cent market share. SCPLC has invested $2 million in Fiji which also has a 30 per cent market share, stated Mr. Panditha.
Speaking of SCPLC in the Sri Lankan context, Mr. Panditha pointed out that more than power cables it’s the water pipes production that is taking place in Sri Lanka. The requirement for pipes has tremendously increased and the future of Sri Lanka is water not power, he noted.