Not enough opportunities at home? South Africa keen to hire Gujarati engineers

Engineers from Gujarat will soon have better opportunities for employment and that too, in a fast-developing economy such as South Africa. The African nation has shown interest in employing engineers from Gujarat and the Gujarat government has showed its preparedness to place them with the African nation.

A senior official in the Gujarat government said, "There was a detailed discussion between delegations from South Africa and Gujarat government. South Africa was keen to import skilled persons from Gujarat as they have a great crunch of engineers in fields such as geology, mining, mechanical, IT and others. The Gujarat government has accepted their proposal."

"This bilateral cooperation between South Africa and Gujarat will enhance opportunities for engineers from the state who are struggling to get good opportunities in the job market. Our labour and employment department will act as the nodal agency and their database at employment exchanges will be used to identify the required skilled persons for the African nation. Both the government entities will also help them get work visas," added the official.

The official also added that South Africa and other African nations have ample resources including natural assets and many multinational companies are ready to invest there. However, skilled manpower is an issue of concern; therefore India and especially Gujarat, can be the market from where skilled persons such as engineers and technical institutions pass outs can be employed.

The additional chief secretary in labour and employment department, Vipul Mitra, said, "We, as a department, always prioritize giving placement to youth in the state and better placement abroad is also one of the aspects of our department's focus. I am sure, if such associations are established, it would be in the best interest of our skilled manpower."

The labour and employment department of Gujarat is also going to treat employment exchanges as job counseling centers for the youth, wherein they would help skilled youth find the right jobs. The department has also tied up with engineering and technical education institutions so that their resource persons can guide students for employment. Besides manpower, the African nation is also keen to have bilateral trade with Gujarat through the micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprise sectors, the senior official in the state government added.