Less skilled Goan youth may lose private sector jobs to Assamese youngsters: Goa CM Sawant

Sawant said the hospitality and tourism sectors were on track to create 2 lakh jobs over the next 5 years, and urged the local youngsters to grab the opportunity

If the local youth from Goa do not skill up and grab employment opportunities enthusiastically, youngsters from other regions will take over white-collar jobs here, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.

Sawant's remarks follow one he recently made in which the chief minister bemoaned the obsession among Goan youth with government jobs, where even those with postgraduate degrees apply for a lower divisional clerk's position.

"Private sector industries are capable of providing 100% jobs to youth in the private sector, because everyone cannot get government jobs. There are many openings at the (upcoming) Mopa airport, IT sector, hospitality and electronic sector," Sawant told a function in Panaji.

"Youth need to grab these opportunities. Be it from Assam or other states, youth from these states come here and take up white-collar jobs. If we try for such jobs, then we may also get it," Sawant said.

Sawant said the hospitality and tourism sectors were on track to create nearly two lakh jobs over the next five years, and urged the local youngsters to grab the opportunity with both hands.

"There are many opportunities in the coastal belt. In the next five years, more than two lakh jobs will be created in the hospitality and tourism sectors. If we don’t grab these opportunities, then youth from other states will. Hence, we need to skill and train our youth," Sawant said, adding that the government was trying to lay stress on up-skilling youngsters.

"We have signed agreements with some industries. On the same line, we have signed agreements with hotels industries to skill youths and provide jobs. If we grab these opportunities, then nobody will remain jobless in the state," he said.