Unemployment in the Maldives is touchy subject. While some people berate the government for not doing enough to create jobs, there are others who are voluntarily unemployed. Then there's the case of the increasing number of expatriates in the country.

According to an official at the Ministry of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security, the number of expatriates in the country will increase annually by 10,000 mainly due to the fact that there aren't enough Maldivians to take the jobs that are being created.

By June of this year, the number of expatriates had risen to 58,502 and forecasts show that it would continue to rise, especially with the upcoming new resorts and other developments. The question remains whether this is a good thing or not?

The Census of 2006, shows that about 18,502 people are unemployed in the above 15 years of age category. Here unemployed people are categorized as those seeking and available for work during the census, and those who weren't available for work or seeking work during the census period due to various reasons. Among the reasons listed for being unemployed, over 14,000 cited that they were unable to find a job, while 3,651 complained of lack of job opportunities.

Earlier this year, an ambitious campaign to create 10,000 jobs was launched by the Employment Ministry, and the "Yes Campaign" was designed to provide training and create job opportunities for the youths in the islands as well as Male'. The campaign failed to take the expected direction, and one would rarely hear about it now, except for some vacancy ads in the papers, looking for technical personnel.

Newspapers contain a healthy number of pages with vacancies from drivers to divers, secretaries to executives, plumbers to supervisors. Yet, complaints of lack of jobs rarely dissipate.

"There are many vacancy notices, but the moment you apply, you would be told that they had already hired someone", explained a youngster who was quite proficient at job hunting. "One of the worst vacancy ads are those you know are in the paper so that they can get quota for hiring expats. These people wouldn't even give you a chance to show your skills!"

The story has another angle too. Some executives complain that even with aggressive advertising and attractive employment packages, few Maldivians apply for the jobs.

"We ran an ad to get Marketing Executives for a week, and not a single person applied. We got many phone calls inquiring about the working hours and stuff. But at the end of the day, we had to headhunt for the position", said the Human Resource Manager of a publishing outlet.

It seems impossible to pinpoint where the problem is, but it is unanimous that there is a problem in finding employment, both for seekers and hirers. Could it be that they are having problems hooking up?

The annual employment fair which is held by the Ministry of Youth & Sports has an important part to play, especially in familiarizing youth to the available job opportunities and career paths that can be taken once the rudimentary education is done and over with. However, even this is not optimized for the best results. Most youths walk out empty-handed having only seen all the big companies with their fancy booths, and few actually make an effort to get employment once the fair is over.

So can it be said that then the fault lies in the job hunter. Or is it? Laziness and arrogance are just some negative qualities that employers list in prospective job hunters who occasionally do cross their thresholds.

"You know the main problem is everyone wants to be a boss. No one wants to work for someone. They want to be the ones calling the shots! So we have a case of employers and no employees," joked Abdullah Ali, an entrepreneur working in the IT field. "I have to get a new salesperson every month as they go on to bigger and better things. What experience will you have in this field in just one month?"

The next best thing seems to be to join the Government where little is expected and you get to earn a basic salary that can fuel late night coffees and the phone bills. In fact most youth straight out of school wait anxiously to join the Government. After all it is a known fact that scholarships do come to those who brown-nose those in power!

The question that needs to be asked is just how many more positions are left in the already cumbersome public service field. With new jobs opening in the new resort developments, isn't it more feasible to acquire trainings and technical skills in the hospitality and tourism industry, even if it means on the job training. But then to do that, the youth needs some industry bigwig to hire them in the first place.

A heartening fact to note here was the training workshop held by Villa group for those interested in broadcasting, for the upcoming launch of Villa TV. Or the apprentice training conducted annually by the Four Seasons Resorts in the country. With basic training, more youths can streamline their career choices and hone in what they want to do when they grow up! Now if only more companies would follow suit.

-- Haveeru