ALİ ŞAHİN – ESRA ÖZARFAT / BURSA
The employment issue, which has become a bleeding wound of Türkiye, was discussed at the Bursa Employment Summit by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality with the main sponsorship of Garanti BBVA and in cooperation with EKONOMI daily and Burcu Basar Communications. Held at Atatürk Congress Cultural Center, the summit consisted of 3 sessions: ‘Contribution of Local Governments to Employment’, ‘Vocational Training and Employment in Industry’, and ‘Women Employment in the Business World’.
Bursa Governor Mahmut Demirtas, Bursa Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktas, district mayors, Bursa Uludag University Rector Prof. Dr. Ferudun Yilmaz, Provincial Director of İşkur Feyzullah Eren Türkmen, Provincial Director of National Education Dr. Ahmet Alireisoglu, chambers of commerce, representatives of industrial zones, teachers and vocational high school students attended the opening of the summit.
Delivering the opening speech, Omer Faruk Ciftci, Regional Coordinator of EKONOMİ Newspaper, said, “On the one hand, the business world cannot find employees to employ. On the other hand, our young people are unemployed. They cannot find a job or do not like a job. The priority of our young people is to be employed in the public sector. At this point, especially local governments are under great pressure. On the other hand, while the labor deficit is so great, the number of female employees is quite low. We have difficulty in including our women in business life. Today, we will bring together public and private sector representatives and discuss ’employment’ in all aspects.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Bursa Governor Mahmut Demirtas emphasized the importance of raising human resources in line with social and economic goals and said, “The most important issue we need to focus on is undoubtedly vocational education. We are obliged to train qualified, well-equipped people at a level that will meet the needs of the sector and put them on the field.” Governor Demirtas said that the share of vocational education in secondary education is 35 percent in Turkey in general and 41 percent in Bursa; the number of students in vocational high schools has increased in the last 3 years, and the rate exceeds 54 percent when vocational education centers are included, and many schools receive a demand above their current capacity.
Local governments support employment
Speaking at the first session moderated by Hakan Guldag, Chairman of EKONOMİ daily, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktas stated that they have implemented projects for employment in many areas from women’s employment to career planning of young people, from scholarships for vocational high school and university students to rural development. Aktas said, “We are talking about space, aviation, and high technology. Young people should read this process correctly and make career plans accordingly. New needs such as artificial intelligence, environmental consultancy, and biotechnology expertise are emerging. Change is inevitable, and we need to keep up with this change.”
