The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Out of 40 pass-outs, only seven electrical engineers from Jigme Namgyel Polytechnics (JNP) in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar have been absorbed in the job market this year.
As per the labor market information guide for Class X and XII, published by the labor ministry, the number of vacancies projected for electrical engineers in the corporate and private sectors were around 12 while the slots for civil engineers was more than 100.
“Most of the hydropower projects are being constructed and they require civil engineers only,” said the human resource officer of a hydropower project, “Therefore, the projects might recruit more electrical engineers after the construction period is over.”
A diploma (electrical) engineer feels that electrical engineers should be recruited after studying the needs and demands of the country’s job market.
At present, 111 students are pursuing their diploma course in electrical engineering in JNP and 64 students will be joining this July.
Now, the question is how and where these students will be absorbed in the job market; when even the present batch of electrical engineers are not.
A confused electrical engineer told The Bhutanese that they were told to wait for at least one year by PHPA while the labor ministry wanted them to join corporations and private companies.
“We are willing to do so, but the list of vacancies which they gave was incomplete; it had the slots but the names of the companies and contact numbers were missing.”
He added that out of 22 vacancies only eight slots had complete addresses.
Meanwhile, JNP Director, Andu Dukpa stated that the institute conducted five campus interviews or company profile presentations in 2011 which included Punatsangchhu Hydropower projects I and II, Ministry of Work and Human Settlement, Royal Insurance Corporation Limited and Bhutan Power Corporation Limited.
From the campus interview, around 46 civil engineers, six mechanical and only four electrical engineers were recruited out of which two are employed in Punatsangchhu Hydropower Project Authority (PHPA I), one in Mangdechhu Hydropower Project Authority and two in Bhutan Power Corporation Limited.
Recently two diploma engineers got absorbed in private construction companies, namely Karma construction and Peldang construction.
Some of the job seekers stated that they are trying to get employed in the private sector too but the wage scale is too low.
On top of that, they said that the private sector required less number of employees and it is already filled with experienced engineers.
Regional director of Labor in Phuentsholing, Kinley Wangdi, during his visit to JNP stated that after the commissioning of the ten hydropower projects, around 20,000 technical people will be absorbed in each project.
