Happy Workers - providing employability skills and employment opportunities for youths in Manipur

Dhaneswari Maisnam *

Everyone wants to have a stable job and be financially independent. Although the traditional mindset of acquiring a government job or aspiring to become a doctor or engineer still persists, many in the field are now realising that these are not the only jobs available. There are many avenues of employment today. With a strong acumen and right skill-set anybody can get a job anywhere.

HWPL - Happy Workers Pte Ltd, is a forthcoming recruitment company with its head quarter in Singapore. Singapore has many accolades pegged to its brand, bolstering the Republic's reputation as a key regional and global hub for companies to do business. To have a global reach it has chosen Singapore as its headquarter. HWPL was borne out of the idea to generate employment amongst the youth of Manipur - to empower them to be economically independent; raise their standards of living; provide them global exposure; and most importantly to channelize their energy in developmental activities.

Educated unemployment is a major concern of most household in Manipur. The growing number of Degree holders are sometimes ironically compared with hay stacks. Within this pool of educated unemployed is unemployed youths. According to official report released by Department of Employment Exchange, Government of Manipur, in 2012, there are about 683,454 educated unemployed youths in Manipur. Youth unemployment has become a global crisis today. The International Labour Conference (ILC) in its resolution in 2012 also included "the youth employment crisis", and a call for action. The issue is doubly critical in the state of Manipur, for youth unemployment constitute a major cause for social disorder and lawlessness affecting socio-economic progress.

There are several factors of unemployment in Manipur. Among other socio-economic and political factors such as poverty, unstable governance, corruption, bribe in recruitment, financial constraints for self-employment, absence of production sector, lack of resources, etc., lack of employability skills, unavailability of job, and most of all non-availability of employment opportunities are major factors responsible for unemployment amongst the youth. The continuing gap in infrastructural facilities, such as industrial backwardness, lack of establishments providing various streams of professional and vocational education also add up to this growing number.

Given the magnitude of the crisis, it is important to consider if development is possible at all.

Singapore did it in the 1960s, Rwanda repeated 3 decades later in 1990s following the footstep of the former. By developing the right "Sociological Imagination" (C Wright Mills), Manipur can do it too. Singapore and Rwanda are both geographically challenged: the former, despite having a port, has no natural resource or source of drinking water, whereas the latter is landlocked. Think of Rwanda, and the first thing that comes to anybody's mind is the country with a bloody history torn apart by a killing spree in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred (1994 genocide).

Fast forward 20 years, and in 2014, she shines as a top reformer on the World Bank's Doing Business report, which assesses how easy it is for entrepreneurs to set up and run a company. Rwanda ranked 32nd of all economies in 2014. If you go to its capital city Kigali today, you'll be surprised by the spotless roads, carefully ordered traffic, and the conspicuous absence of trash. It was reminiscent of Singapore, which faced social unrest, high unemployment, and other slim prospects when it became independent in 1965.

But by the 1980s, Singapore's GDP was growing at an annual rate of 8 per cent and unemployment had fallen dramatically. It was the result of strategic effort by the government to use human capital and build a world-class market and regulatory framework wherein the rule of law prevails. Like Lee Kuan Yew, known as the father of Singapore, Rwandan President Paul Kagame also laid out a rigorous development strategy for his country with extraordinary single-mindedness, chanelising limited resources on education, health, and information technology.

In an effort to curve some amount of unemployment problem, HWPL took the initiative of pooling-in the youths of Maipur into a customised training program wherein they will be trained with employable skills for Oil & Gas, Marine & Offshore industries. Over the past year, in partnership with the GOM (Government of Manipur), and HASK group - a Singapore based company - an industrial training institute called HSDC - Hask Skill Development Center - has been successfully set up at Lilong, in Imphal for this purpose. HSDC will provide appropriate training, and HWPL will give a complete package of assistance in selection and recruitment processes for markets in Singapore, Middle East and India.

HWPL is also consistently working with various other industry leaders in major service industries such as Health Care, Retail, Hospitality and Aviation to set up other training centers to provide employability skills for youths in Manipur. These training centers will be laid out with international standards, and tailored to match the needs and requirements of the prevailing labour market.

Skills mismatch on youth labour markets has become a persistent and growing problem. Improving youth labour market outcomes requires an in-depth understanding of employment and labour market issues. With the rapid transformation in information technology, the global economy and the underlying labour market is moving at a very fast pace affecting environment, and challenging socio-economic and political structures.

To meet such everyday challenges in life, having life-skill and employability skills is very important. They help us to accomplish our ambitions and live to our full potential. It can help an individual in a number of ways -

1. It helps them recognise the impact of their actions and teaches them to take responsibilities for 'what they do' rather than blame others.
2. Help them find new ways of thinking and increase their problem solving skills.
3. Build confidence.
4. Enable them to analyse options, make decisions and understand why they make certain choices outside of the classroom.
5. Develop a greater sense of self-awareness and appreciation for others.

HWPL is in a continuous process of developing various skill development centres to provide employability skills to the people of Manipur.

A report by Mckinsey Global Institute, maintains that, " Over the past three decades, as developing economies industrialized and began to compete in world markets, a global labor market started taking shape. As more than one billion people entered the labor force, a massive movement from "farm to factory" sharply accelerated growth of productivity and per capita GDP in China and other traditionally rural nations, helping to bring hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. To raise productivity, developed economies invested in labor- saving technologies and tapped global sources of low-cost labor."

By providing employable skills, HWPL endeavours to help the youths of Manipur to participate in this growing global trend and be a part of billions of workforce entering job market every day. HWPL will train and guide the youths to find a role that fits their interests and skills.

Taking inspiration from nation building models of Singapore and more recently Rwanda, HWPL is actively moving towards helping to build a progressive society by helping its youths. Our mission is to empower them, help them find a job; succeed in their career; and ultimately participate in the nation building process to foster social harmony and economic growth.

For any queries reach out to us at dhanz(AT)happyworkerz(DOT)com