According to the ITO Employment Report, Blue Collar Workers Earn More!

07/30/2024

ITO Employment Report Published: Master Welder Earns More Than a 10-Year Banker!

Estimated reading time 3 minutes

Recently, ITOSAM (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Strategic Research Center) published the “employment” report, and shed light on many problems and facts!

One of the most striking aspects of the report was the statement “A master welder earns more than a 10-year banker!” in the section where the opinions of the company owners are included.

In our agenda article this week, we will be analyzing this report in 3 items.

1. General Situation of Employment

When we look at the employment structure in the ITO report, we first see that the total number of employees in Turkey increased by more than 50% between 2005 and 2022, reaching 30 million people.

When we look at the sectoral distribution of employment, we see that the service sector has grown considerably in this period and covers an area of 56.5%. Agriculture has declined to 15%.

In addition to employment status, when we look at the report, we see that unemployment continues to be a major problem and this rate is 13.8%.

In the table below, you can see which professions have what rate in the unemployment rate. According to the list, while the lowest unemployment is in managerial positions, the area with the highest unemployment is Basic Jobs.

2. Basic Problems in Employment

We mentioned the employment situation in Turkey above. Now, we will shed light on the biggest problems experienced by companies in this employment situation.

Matching/adaptation problems: Four out of every five companies surveyed by the ITO say that one of the biggest problems in gaining new employment is the adaptation problem. Companies complain about the difficulty of finding someone with the required qualifications. They also state that the adaptation process after the recruitment is also difficult and that the rate of leaving the job before adaptation is achieved is high. (Of course, it is necessary to intervene here and state that there are many reasons that can arise from both sides)
Employee supply problem: Companies have stated that they have great difficulty in supplying both unqualified and qualified personnel. This difficulty increases especially as the size of the company grows.
The problem of employees not liking their jobs: Companies have stated that approximately 70%-90% of the employees encounter the problem of employees not liking their jobs.
The problem of low exposure
The problem of employees leaving their jobs after learning the job and gaining experience

It should be noted again that in addition to these problems experienced in employment levels, there are many other problems and the reasons for these can be two-sided.

You can access the full list of problems in the source section at the end of the article.

3. Causes and Solutions to Employment Problems

In a normal, well-functioning market economy, everyone who wants to work should be able to find a job according to their own talents and desires, and the unemployment rate should be low. This is the ideal situation. Unfortunately, Turkey’s economic situation is far from this ideal at the moment.

The essence of this problem is generally the imbalance between labor supply and demand. (Tatlıyer, Gaining Employment)

3.1 Education and Image/Status in Medium-Skilled Blue-Collar Workers

Reasons

One of the main reasons for the above reasons is related to blue-collar workers. Among many occupations, the only area where the share of open jobs is higher than the share of unemployed is middle-class blue-collar workers. An important reason for this is the lack of technical training in these areas and the fact that people do not like these jobs (craftsman, operator, assembler, etc.). This makes those who do these jobs more valuable and indirectly increases their earnings. This leads us to the sentence in the title of the article, “A master welder earns more than a 10-year banker”…

Solutions

1. Students can be directed to technical and academic paths with a widespread guidance system.

2. Conducting a comprehensive image/status improvement campaign in addition to vocational high schools for medium-skilled blue-collar occupations

3.2 Situations Related to Medium-High and High Skilled White/Grey Collar Workers

Reasons

We can say that the opposite is true for blue collar workers. In this sector where unemployment rates are high, there is a surplus of labor.

Although there is a surplus of labor, the issue here is not quantity but quality. We can say that the deficiencies in higher education and technological development are the main reasons for the employment of workers in this sector.

Solutions

Creation of a macro-level and dynamic higher education plan/program/strategy

When we look at all these problems and solutions, we can say that everyone’s contribution is needed in solving the problems; employers, employees and decision makers.

In addition, many private employment agencies such as Miorec provide consultancy services to companies in solving these problems, namely correct employment problems.

You can reach us via the link below for more detailed information about our solutions suitable for you.

Click here.

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