“The shortage of intermediate staff has turned into a chronic problem”

Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman of the Board of Directors Gürsel Baran stated in his written statement that there has been a rapid change all over the world with the advancement in technology, and this process has accelerated with the epidemic. Pointing out that he was worried that people would be left out of business life with mechanization in this process, Baran said:

“While we were worried that people would be unemployed because robots would do business, we became unable to find qualified or even unskilled labor. When we come together as employers, the first issue we talk about is not finding workers to employ. Not being able to find people to work in the cadres called intermediate staff negatively affects the entire production and service potential of our country.”

Baran underlined that there is a lack of qualified workforce to be employed in all sectors, from construction to health, from textiles to furniture, from restaurants to hotels, and that the shortage of intermediate staff has turned into a chronic problem, “The employer invests millions of lira, establishes a business, but is desperate to find people to be employed in that business. The issue of intermediate staff has become a main problem for businesses.” made its assessment.

Noting that with the privatization efforts in Turkey, the public has withdrawn from the areas where the real sector can operate, Baran argued that it is not possible to solve the problem of finding workers in the real sector without destroying the perception that the public sector is a warehouse of employment.

Arguing that one of the reasons why the real sector cannot find employees is the wage policy implemented by the public, Baran continued as follows:

“The wages of our private sector, which operates with very low profitability rates, lag behind some positions in the public sector. Unfortunately, the high level of expectation of job seekers does not match the realities of our country.”

Baran pointed out that vocational and technical education should be popularized and emphasized the importance of apprenticeship culture.

Reminding that the issue of asylum seekers was discussed, Baran warned that the rate of asylum seekers working in some sectors is high, and that the employment of asylum seekers may increase if the problem of not finding staff is not resolved.