Context: The Government of Mongolia has taken several steps to provide comprehensive support to organizations whose initiatives create employment for young people, people over the age of 40, and others struggling to find work, including persons with disabilities, migrants and students. The year 2011 was declared the Year of Employment Promotion, and the existing Employment Promotion Law, was revised. Mongolia’s unemployment rate in 2018 is 9.7 per cent, which accounts for 122,900 people struggling or unable to find employment.
Implementation of programme/initiative: The Youth Labour Exchange launched the Young Mongolian with a Job and Income Programme in January 2014 with the aim of involving students and young people in the labour market by offering temporary work and experience of professional environments. The aims of this initiative are to increase employment opportunities for young people and students, to provide information and consultations to job seekers and to build the skill sets of young people.
Main challenges: One of the more pressing challenges faced by the Young Mongolian with a Job and Income Programme has been the limited labour demand of local companies. Students’ inadequate professional experience and lack of appropriate qualifications have also strained the programme’s application, as companies often require specific capabilities and competencies in the workplace, information on which students rarely receive from schools. Additionally, the number of existing jobs has been low and there has been a lack of accessible information regarding the availability and scope of jobs.
Results achieved: In 2013, a programme was created to offer employers the opportunity to list job announcements with local labour organizations or with the labour exchange in Ulaanbaatar. Financial incentives of MNT65,000 (USD26) per trainee per month have been offered to employers and training institutes to cover training costs. Individuals who have been accepted for the programme have received a monthly benefit of MNT190,000, (USD78) and of the 6,417 participants in the programme, 5,087 (79 per cent) have found employment upon graduation.
Moving forward: The programme provides unemployed individuals with the opportunity to undergo on-site training in fields of their choice. In this way, the programme looks to work alongside industry and assist with employee training. An increased wealth of information highlighting the scope of job availabilities needs to be offered to students and young people participating in the programme in order to ensure the students various needs and professional interests are met.
Replicability: This initiative has successfully introduced students and young people to the working world and a core aspect that has contributed to the success of the Young Mongolian With a Job and Income Programme has been the benefits provided to both employee and employer. Another factor which has ensured its success is the help, provided by the programme, to align the skills of the workplace with labour demand through vocational training and other educational initiatives. Such an approach could be replicated by other governments willing to connect local businesses and students in order to provide vocational training and work experience.
References:
http://www.mol.gov.mn/nodes/view/type:news/slug:Ajiltai-orlogotoi-mongol-hun#sthash.HrwExvfi.dpuf
Acknowledgement:
This good practice was kindly edited by Ms. Elizabeth Linklater
Project Details
Date: June 8, 2018