Cambodia needs to create 250,000 to 275,000 jobs to absorb its growing labor force and take urgent measures to integrate young women into the workforce, national media said on Thursday.
The Cambodian workforce, including those in jobs and those available for employment, rose from 4 million in 1994 to 7.5 million in 2004, English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post quoted a report from the Ministry of Women's Affairs as saying.
Between 2001 and 2004 alone, the workforce grew by 19 percent, and in Phnom Penh alone, it increased by 53 percent over the same period, it said.
Women make up some 29 percent of the labor force and 71 percent of the women above 14 years old contribute to the economy, a ratio much higher than Thailand, Laos and Indonesia but slightly lower than Vietnam and China, it said.
However, employment opportunities for the masses of young women expecting to enter the job market over the next few years look slim, it said.
The labor market continues to be heavily segregated by gender, with women working mainly in the trade and handicraft sectors and men in the construction and communication sectors, it said.
In the countryside, farming, handicrafts and sale of products are almost the only career options for women, it said.
The Ministry of Women's Affairs is planning to work with the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy to boost job opportunities for women, the paper added.
Source:Xinhua
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