Firms turning to women workers amid shortage of skilled laborers

ANKARA

Industrial companies are struggling to find skilled workers to hire, trying every possible channel to reach out to them but to no avail, Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President Seyit Ardıç has said, adding that firms are now increasingly turning to women workers to fill the void.

“Some companies are even trying to find workers with announcements made through PA systems at mosques. This happens at a time when the number of unemployed university graduates is on the rise. The companies doing business in the industry sector are having a hard time finding workers,” he said.

In an organized industrial zone alone, companies are looking for around 4,000 skilled workers to hire immediately, Ardıç added.

Companies are turning to women workers as a solution to overcome the labor shortage, Ardıç said.

Ardıç noted that they provide six-month training courses for women workers in cooperation with the employment agency İŞKUR.

Upon the completion of the courses, women workers can find jobs at industrial companies in different positions with 25,000 Turkish Liras of salary, according to Ardıç.

“Employers especially want to work with female welders because they are very good at doing this job,” he said.

According to Ardıç, high salaries in the public sector are causing labor shortages in the industry sector.

“Some 50 percent of skilled workers, who previously worked in industry, switched to public sector jobs, lured by high salaries there,” he explained.

Ardıç also claimed that the higher education policy is another problem.

“In Germany, which has a comparable population size to Türkiye, has 4 million university graduates, whereas Türkiye has 8 million. Because of this, there are not enough skilled workers in the industry, tourism and agriculture sectors. Migrants are filling the gap.”

Syrians mostly work in industry, Afghans in agriculture, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks work in the tourism sectors, Ardıç said, calling for the establishment of a Migrants Ministry.

“If those working migrants leave the country, we will face big problems. A ministry, which will deal with migrants must be launched immediately. Single migrants and those who change jobs often should be sent back to their countries,” he said.