Rise in Perceived Easy Money Leads to Decrease in Demand for Lucrative Jobs: Finding Workers for 50K TL per Month Becomes Difficult
Job Shortages Plague Turkish Industries
By Alena Sevim, Istanbul
High paying jobs in certain industries are going unfilled due to a lack of interest from young people, causing a labor shortage in various professions. Representatives across different sectors attribute this to the aversion of young people to labor-intensive work and their desire for high salaries without gaining experience in entry-level positions. Additionally, experienced craftsmen are pursuing job opportunities abroad where they can earn better wages, leading to a scarcity of workers in many areas.
The construction industry in Istanbul, as represented by Kubilay Salihvatandaş, the Secretary General of the Istanbul Constructors Association (İNDER), is severely lacking both unskilled and skilled workers. He pointed out that this shortage is causing salaries to increase by as much as 400 percent in the last year. While the demand for engineers in the industry is high, master craftsmen, such as iron workers, concrete experts, bricklayers, and electricians, are in short supply.
Cavlak, chairman of the Turkish Construction Equipment Operators Association, adds that a vocation such as crane operation, with an average monthly income of 30 thousand liras, is also facing a shortage of workers. In this case, the new generation’s lack of interest in hard work and apprenticeship is cited as a leading cause. The industry’s attempt to resolve the issue by developing programs to educate new operators didn’t lead to desired results as there is still a lack of skilled personnel entering the sector.
Moreover, sectors like rope access technician services, long-distance truck driving, and marble manufacturing face similar challenges in recruiting personnel. For instance, rope access technicians, who perform technical work on high-rise structures and high-rise building maintenance, offer salaries that start at 30 thousand lira and can reach 70-80 thousand liras per month. However, the technical requirements and working conditions of this field deter many individuals from pursuing it, leading to a shortage of manpower.
Similar sentiments were echoed by marble makers in Konya, who claim that they are struggling to find young workers and apprentices due to the daunting nature of the work and the younger generation’s preference for cleaner, easier jobs.
The growing labor shortage in lucrative sectors such as construction, crane operation, and various vocational fields continues to pose challenges for the Turkish workforce. The trend, if left unchecked, could lead to a wider gap between the supply and demand for skilled workers across these industries. Efforts to incentivise and encourage young people to consider careers in these sectors are essential to addressing this issue.