Job Quality in Cambodia is Improving, but New Policies Are Needed to Benefit from Global Markets

Phnom Penh, November 19, 2019—The diversity and quality of jobs available in Cambodia is improving, yet new policies are needed for Cambodia to benefit from the opportunities available in future global markets, according to a World Bank report, Cambodia’s Future Jobs: Linking to the Economy of Tomorrow, released today.

Of the 8 million jobs in Cambodia, 37 percent are wage jobs, many of which offer higher earnings and more protections to workers. However, the other 63 percent of jobs remain more traditional. Such jobs on family farms or in household enterprises are weakly integrated in the modern economy and offer workers lower earnings.

“The diversity and quality of jobs in Cambodia has gradually improved,” said Inguna Dobraja, World Bank Country Manager for Cambodia. “But global trends, such as the growing Asian middle class, shifting trade patterns, and automation require that Cambodia re-think its jobs strategy as it advances to the next stage of export-led development.”

Foreign-owned firms have been significant contributors of higher quality jobs in Cambodia. By 2015, one-third of all wage jobs in Cambodia were in foreign-owned firms. During the period 2010-2015, the garments industry was the fastest-growing occupation sector, increasing its share of employment by 1.1 percent per year.

Domestic firms are more numerous than foreign-owned firms, but they do not contribute as many jobs. Domestic firms employ an average 8 workers, compared to 124 in foreign-owned firms. A key concern is ensuring Cambodian workers are equipped with the skills to compete with workers from other countries for jobs in foreign-owned firms. In 2016, 37.6 of exporters cited an inadequately educated workforce as a top business obstacle.

The report recommends a four-pronged strategy to securing more and better jobs in the future: diversify exports into higher value-added production; create a domestic business environment that supports local firms growth; strengthen linkages between the domestic and export sectors of the economy; and invest in workers’ skills and education. The report further details seven policy recommendations that would advance these strategic goals:

1. Diversify exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) into higher value-added value chains. Most current jobs are in low-value segments of global value chains. Simplifying processes, providing incentives to foreign investors, and creating quality assurance facilities will encourage diversification of exports and FDI into higher value-added value chains or segments of value chains.
2. Streamline procedures and reduce the costs of establishing and expanding small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), which have considerable potential to create jobs. Such policies would include reducing the cost of doing business for local firms, increasing firm contributions to worker skills development, increasing access to financing through grant programs and fiscal incentives, and providing support to firms to hire more workers.
3. Help household enterprises enhance their productivity and create better jobs. Household enterprises account for one out of every five jobs in Cambodia and this will grow with increased urbanization. Information technology, for example, can help household enterprises improve their basic business practices and access broader markets.
4. Support the development of links between exporting FDI firms and domestic input-supplying firms, by, for example, providing incentives to foreign firms to source their inputs from local SMEs, creating a directory of local suppliers with the capacity to partner with foreign firms, and establishing local supplier development programs.
5. Build a skills development system that will attract higher-value FDI and increase productivity across the economy. Cambodia’s workforce is getting by with only 6.3 years of education on average. Policymakers should focus on reforming today’s education system to help the tomorrow’s workers acquire the broad range of skills needed to work in a knowledge-intensive economy and engage enterprises in the design, financing, and support of a technical and vocational training system to serve today’s workers.
6. Promote efficient labor mobility and job matching by opening formal international migration channels and supporting programs that encourage circular migration, and by disseminating information about job opportunities inside and outside of the country to students, jobseekers, education and training institutes, and employers so that skills development choices are aligned with the changing labor market demand.
7. Regain macroeconomic independence and exchange-rate flexibility. US dollar fluctuations have a significant impact on Cambodia’s trade and commodities sectors, which are responsible for most of the country’s jobs. As Cambodia begins to export to a broader range of countries, macroeconomic and fiscal stability will help shield existing jobs from factors related to the US dollar.

“The success of Cambodia’s job strategy will depend on the participation and cooperation of stakeholders across the economy, not only policy makers and government leaders, but also entrepreneurs, investors, development partners, and, of course, workers themselves,” said Wendy Cunningham, Lead Economist and a lead author of the report.