As the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in large number of redundancies and unemployment, the Government has been taking targeted measures to address the issues on employment and minimize economic and social impacts of the crisis. Developing an efficient labour market through job-matching technology is one of the key initiatives targeted to facilitate job seekers as well as employers and, reverse the setbacks.
Under the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development, a national Job Center was implemented in November 2019 as an intermediary between employers and jobseekers. It is an online job matching platform tasked with consolidating all job market related information to a single platform and carrying out research to further develop and refine the Maldivian job market. Furthermore, the Job Center is tasked with establishing a platform where the available job opportunities are easily accessible by prospective jobseekers as well as a mechanism to carry out the application process via the same platform.
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform was also utilised to initiate and implement the COVID-19 emergency Income Support Program. To further improve its effectiveness and increase outreach, a modern redesigned Job Center was launched recently in April 2021 and its functions were resumed at full capacity. The platform is also being used to verify whether employers have sought local employees before applying for expatriate quota.
Beyond its potential role of job-matching and promoting employment, the platform is expected to play an instrumental role in addressing some of the key labour market challenges. As such, the Government plans to link registered users to training and employment opportunities through the platform, which will provide workers with more rewarding opportunities, incentivize employers, and ensure workers have the skills necessary to thrive.
As of Jun 2021, a total of 789 employers have been registered in the Job Center platform and the registered employers have posted 451 jobs in the platform. As for job seekers, a total of 451 people has been registered in the Job Center, while the job applications have reached a total of 1,439 as of now.