Explore Skilled Labour Shortage of Carpenters in Sri Lanka: Through the Lens of Participants Employed in Furniture Manufacturing Industry
South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics,
Page 49-63
DOI:
10.9734/sajsse/2023/v17i1630
Abstract
Skilled labour shortage that is prevailing in the current context has made lot of adverse economic and social repercussions, more or less to all sectors in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study is to explore the skilled labour shortage of carpenters in Sri Lankan furniture manufacturing industry through the lens of participants that are involved. This includes exploring the support mechanisms in place for carpenters in Sri Lanka. This study used qualitative research approach. Purposive sampling technique and semi-structured interviews were utilized to collect data from 12 (male) participants including timber firm owners, the current working employees in timber firms and the retired/ resigned employees. The theory of proximal similarity was adopted to connect the study’s characteristics and the characteristics of the group under study. Findings from the interviews grouped into key themes namely unsustainable income, lack of social prestige and infertile apprenticeship program. The sub-themes included earning capacity, high risk job, and visible career path and so on. These themes considered in relation to the existing and future implications for the industry. The findings of the study provide valuable insight which is necessary furniture manufacturing industry to develop and train future carpenters capable of sustaining the Sri Lankan furniture manufacturing industry. Furniture manufacturing industry has a potential to generate attractive export earnings however received less attention on its skilled labour shortage issues.
Keywords:
- Skilled labour shortage
- furniture manufacturing industry
- qualitative approach
- carpenters
How to Cite
Sachitra, V., & Mendis, S. (2023). Explore Skilled Labour Shortage of Carpenters in Sri Lanka: Through the Lens of Participants Employed in Furniture Manufacturing Industry. South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics, 17(1), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.9734/sajsse/2023/v17i1630
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Cappelli PH. Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: evidence and arguments for the United States. ILR Rev. 2015;68(2):251-90.
DOI: 10.1177/0019793914564961.
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Available:https://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/56844/global-manufacturing-labor-shortages#:~:text=The%20global%20manufacturing%20labor%20shortage,are%20expected%20to%20get%20worse (01.03.2022)
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Available:https://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/press-releases/manufacturing-industry-faces.
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Borjas GJ. Does immigration grease the wheels of the labor market? Brookings Pap Econ Act. 2004;1:69-133.
Sundblad W. The manufacturing labor shortage is still coming, stay prepared. Forbes [cited Apr 23, 2020].
Available:https://www.forbes.com/sites/willemsundbladeurope/2020/04/23/the-labor-shortage-/; 2020.
Pathirana LPDS. Construction industry and factor condition prospective of Sri Lanka: A special reference to skill labour shortage. IOSR JBM. 2021;23(2):35-41.
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Department of Census and Statistics. Annual report of labor force survey 2020. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Census and Statistics; 2020.
Sri Lanka Export Development Board. Wooden products, Wooden Product Overview; 2020.
Available:https://www.srilankabusiness.com/wooden/overview.html.
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Available:https://sourcingjournal.com/topics/labor/universal-furniture-manufacturing-labor-shortage-covid19-telescope-casual-furniture-293601/.
Dalheim R. Business strong, but material Prices and labor shortages Plague wood segment; 2021. Furniture Today [cited Dec 23, 2021] [cited 7.3.2022].
Available:https://www.furnituretoday.com/furniture-manufacturing/business-strong-but-material-prices-and-labor-shortages-plague-wood-segment/.
Ayodele OA, Chang-Richards Y, González VA. A framework for addressing construction labour turnover in New Zealand. Eng Constr Archit Manag. 2022;29(2):601-18.
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-05-2020-0358.
Osuizugbo IC, Kukoyi PO, Abisuga AO, Ibrahim K. Choosing to be a craftsperson: factors influencing career decision-making among apprentices No. ahead-of-print. ECAM. 2022.
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-03-2021-0198.
Spence M. Job market signaling. Q J Econ. 1973;87(3):355-74.
DOI: 10.2307/1882010.
Lawani K, McKenzie-Govan S, Hare B, Sherratt F, Cameron I. Skill shortage of bricklayers in Scotland. J Eng Des Technol. 2022;20(1):321-38.
DOI: 10.1108/JEDT-12-2020-0503.
Shah C, Burke G. Skills shortages: Concepts, measurement and policy responses. Aust Bull Lab. 2005;31(1):44-71.
Trendle B. Skill and labour shortages: definition, cause and implications, Labour Market Research Unit working paper series, no. 54. Brisbane: LMRU; 2008.
Available:https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A17773.
Praveen R, Niththiyananthan T, Kanarajan S, Dissanayake PBG. Understanding and mitigating the effects of shortage of skilled labour in the construction industry of Sri Lanka, International Conference on Structural Engineering Construction and Management University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka; 2011 [cited 1.3.2022].
Available:http://dl.lib.mrt.ac.lk/handle/123/9439.
BSR. A study on the labor shortage and employment guidelines for manufacturers China; 2010 [cited 7.3.2022].
Available:https://www.bsr.org/reports/Labor_Shortage_and_Employment_Practices_in_China.pdf.
Mattews K. How to deal with the manufacturing labor shortage; 2019. Robotic [cited Feb 19 2019].
Available: https://blog.robotiq.com/how-to-deal-with-the-manufacturing-labor-shortage.
Blackwood L, Bryson J, Merritt K. Developing Human Capability: employment institutions, organisations and individuals, Discussion Paper – Furniture manufacturing industry. New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington; 2006 [cited 4.2.2022].
Available:https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/som/researchprojects/dhc-publtns/Furniture_Industry_Report.pdf.
Rite V. How the skilled labor shortage is impacting manufactures, The Conduit, MCL; 2019.
Available:https://www.mcl.bz/blog/skilled-labor-shortage-will-impact manufacturers#:~:text=Overtime%20Hours,strained%20budget%2C%20driving%20profits%20down (04.02.2022).
Ranasighe A, Madurawela S, Senadeera T. An empirical investigation of labor shortage in the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka, Discussion Paper Series, Economics and Business Statistics, Griffith Business School, No. 2016-05; 2016.
Available: https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/390482/2016-05-empirical-investigation-of-labor-shortage-manufacturing-sector-sri-lanka.pdf.
Weaver CN. Occupation prestige as a factor in the net relationship between occupation and job satisfaction. Personal Psychol. 1977;30(4):607-12.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1977.tb02330.x.
Jones C. Trump’s job losses will exceed the great recession’s. Forbes [cited Apr 4, 2020].
Available:https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/04/04/trumps-job-losses-will-exceed-the-great-recessions/?sh=6657eae97d37; 2020.
Behling F, Harvey M. The evolution of false self-employment in the British construction industry: a neo-Polanyian account of labour market formation. Work Employ Soc. 2015;29(6):969-88.
DOI: 10.1177/0950017014559960.
Taylor M, Marsh G, Nicol D, Broadbent P. Good work: the Taylor review of modern working practices. London: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; 2017 [cited Mar 07 2022].
Available:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-work-the-taylor-review-of-modern-working-practices.
Svedlund M, Danielson E, Norberg A. Women’s narratives during the acute phase of their myocardial infarction. J Adv Nurs. 2001;35(2):197-205.
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01837.x, PMID 11442699.
Saunders M, Lewis P, Thornhill A. Research methods for business students. 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited; 2009.
Lopez KA, Willis DG. Descriptive versus interpretive phenomenology: their contributions to nursing knowledge. Qual Health Res. 2004;14(5):726-35.
DOI: 10.1177/1049732304263638
Heidegger M. Being and time Macquarrie J, Robinson E, translators. New York: Harper & Row; 1962.
Geanellos R. Exploring Ricoeur’s hermeneutic theory of interpretation as a method of analyzing research texts. Nurs Inq. 2000;7(2):112-9.
DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-1800.2000.00062.x
Creswell J. Qualitative inquiry & research design – choosing among five approaches. 3rd ed. London: SAGE; 2013.
Brunner RD. The principle of proximal similarity. Knowledge. 1987;9(1):145-60.
DOI: 10.1177/107554708700900106.
Smith JA, Jarman M, Osborn M. Doing interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Murray M, Chamberlain K, editors. Qualitative health psychology. London: SAGE; 1999.
Smith JA, Eatough V. Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Breakwell GM, Hammond S, Fife-Schan C, Smith JA, editors. Research methods in psychology. London: SAGE; 2006.
Patton MQ. Qualitative evaluation and research methods. London: SAGE; 1990.
Creswell JW, Creswell JD. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc; 2018.
Stevens PE, Hall JM. Applying critical theories to nursing in communities. Public Health Nurs. 1992;9(1):2-9.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.1992.tb00065.x
Cope J. Researching entrepreneurship through phenomenological inquiry: philosophical and methodological issues. International Small Business Journal. 2005;23(2):163-89.
DOI: 10.1177/0266242605050511.
Rosenthal M. Qualitative research methods: why, when, and how to conduct interviews and focus groups in pharmacy research. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2016;8(4):509-16.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2016.03.021.
Creswell JW, Clark PVL. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2017.
LeVasseur JJ. The problem of bracketing in phenomenology. Qual Health Res. 2003;13(3):408-20.
DOI: 10.1177/1049732302250337
Clarke V, Braun V. Thematic analysis. J Posit Psychol. 2017;12(3):297-8.
DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613.
Pettinger T. Effect of labor shortages. Economics help; 2021 [cited 5.3.2022].
Available:https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/25536/labour-markets/labour-shortages/.
Horbach J. Determinants of labor shortage – with particular focus on the German environmental sector, IAB-Discussion. Nuremberg, Germany: Institute for Employment Research:Paper 201422; 2014. Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg.
Available:https://doku.iab.de/discussionpapers/2014/dp2214.pdf.
Carter SP, Dudley W, Lyle DS, Smith JZ. Who’s the boss? The effect of strong leadership on employee turnover. J Econ Behav Organ. 2019;159:323-43.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.12.028.
Akanmu A, Olayiwola J, Olatunji OA. Musculoskeletal disorders within the carpentry trade: analysis of timber flooring subtasks. Eng Constr Archit Manag. 2020;27(9):2577-90.
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-08-2019-0402.
Cappelli PH. Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: evidence and arguments for the United States. ILR Rev. 2015;68(2):251-90.
DOI: 10.1177/0019793914564961.
Maxwell R, Knox S. Motivating employees to ”live the brand”: a comparative case study of employer brand attractiveness within the firm. J Mark Manag. 2009;25(9-10):893-907.
DOI: 10.1362/026725709X479282.
Ulrich D. Human Resource Champions: the next agenda for adding value. Boston: Harvard Business School Press; 1997.
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