The nature of unemployment in Sri Lanka and the importance of Employability.

1. Unemployment vs Employability
Unemployment has become a serious issue in many countries around the world these days. The
average unemployment rate of Sri Lanka is 4.6% as per the Department of Census and Statistics
of Sri Lanka (http://www.statistics.gov.lk/samplesurvey/2016Q2report.pdf, Accessed 27
February 2017) and 4.5% as per the Trading Economics website
(http://www.tradingeconomics.com/country-list/unemployment-rate, Accessed 27 February
2017) by the end of 2016.
The following unemployment rates are obtained based on age groups and educational
qualifications extracted from the website of Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka
(http://www.statistics.gov.lk/samplesurvey/2016Q2report.pdf, Accessed 27 February 2017).
Age groups – Both genders (%)
Year Total 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 >40
2016 End 100 14.9 42.3 18.2 13.4 11.2
Level of Education – Both genders (%)
Year Total
Grade 5 &
below
Grade 6-10
GCE (O/L) &
above
GCE (A/L)
& above
2016 End 100 2.5 35.2 22.5 39.8
This shows the dispersion of unemployment rates of the country. Various causes would lead this
categorization though the entire percentage would be called as unemployed. Sri Lanka has a very
significant literacy rate which is 92% still average unemployment rate is 4.6%. On the other hand
the countries which are virtually having 100% literacy rate have considerable average
unemployment rates such as Luxembourg has 6.2%, Norway has 4.4% and Liechtenstein has
2.4%. This proves that the unemployment issue is a common one around the world regardless of
the education system effectiveness.

2. Also, there are number of job opportunities available for the job seekers in the country and in the
world. Opportunities are open and wide where employers are seeking people for them to work.
Job seekers on the other side have a serious complaint that they do not have job opportunities.
This is has been identified very clearly as a prevailing issue in Sri Lanka. Diplomatically
thinking, there is a very big gap between the job description of the vacancy and the abilities &
skills what the job seekers have. This gap remains the same all the time where many job seekers
do not look into the key requirements of the vacancy. Job seekers always search for a job
matching with what they have, rather not what the employers expect from them (Key
requirements of the job vacancy). Professional and personal development (Continuous
Professional Development) is very important for the job seekers to match them with the
expectations of the employers.
This is called “Employability”. It means “A set of accomplishments, understandings and
personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment opportunities and to be
successful in their chosen careers”. The job seekers must develop and prepare themselves as per
the key requirements of the preferred field of career in order to make them fir to the job
opportunity. Academic qualification is only the key to open the door of opportunity. The KSAO
(Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Other aspects) are the ones which will support the employee to
perform in the grabbed opportunity. This KSAO development is purely on the hands of job
seekers where realization and acquisition on time is a must.
By
R Mafas
Senior Lecturer & Educationist