Employment services and South-South Cooperation

Tailoring counselling support to advance sustainable workforce development in Cambodia

ILO-supported training equips a counsellor with the skills to deliver more inclusive employment services across Cambodia.

23 July 2026

CAMBODIA (ILO News) – “I have always been passionate about helping people improve their living standards through decent and sustainable employment.”

For KEU Chhieng, Chief of the Pursat Job Centre, National Employment Agency, Cambodia, this motivation has shaped his path in career counselling.

“Before joining the public employment services field, I knew how many jobseekers — especially youth, women, and persons with disabilities — struggled to find suitable jobs due to a lack of information, guidance, or opportunities. This inspired me to be part of this field,” said KEU Chhieng, Chief of Pursat Job Centre, National Employment Agency, Cambodia.

KEU Chhieng values continuous capacity development and has participated in several training programmes that helped strengthen his counselling, communication, and labour market analysis skills.

Employment counselling in Cambodia — KEU Chhieng shares good practices with his fellow counsellors on facilitating recruitment solutions and offering client-centred support.

Given the importance of matching labour market demand and supply and ensuring that no one is left behind, the International Labour Organization, in collaboration with the National Employment Agency (NEA) of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) of Cambodia, co-organized a series of trainings for public employment services officers to strengthen their competencies in providing inclusive and high-quality employment counselling and to create a network of trainers to further support the Ministry’s staff development needs.

The trainings are being rolled out across Cambodia with the support of the Decent Employment for Youth in Cambodia programme phase 3 (DEYIII), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Promoting the Global Development Initiative with a Focus on South-South Cooperation in Employment in ASEAN project (ProSSCE-ASEAN), funded by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China.

Reflecting on the trainings, KEU Chhieng highlighted, “Each tier of the training provides different but complementary capacities that help me offer more inclusive, efficient, and client-centred services to both jobseekers and employers. At the technical level, I gained knowledge in job matching, labour market information systems, and digital tools, which allow me to serve jobseekers and employers more effectively. At the management level, I can better coordinate with stakeholders, plan outreach activities, and monitor service quality,” he added.

Following public employment services training with the ILO, he is strongly committed to refining his career guidance to meet specific needs of groups in vulnerable situations such as persons with disabilities, women, youth, and migrant workers. This includes building partnerships with employers and advocating for accessible and flexible job opportunities for vulnerable groups.

For persons with disabilities, he plans to prioritize physical as well as digital accessibility in job centres and employment platforms. Complementing these efforts, he also places importance on raising awareness to reduce stigma in hiring practices.

To further address barriers to employment for women, he highlights the need for gender-sensitive counselling to tackle challenges such as discrimination and childcare responsibilities. He also aims to empower women with leadership, digital, and entrepreneurship skills.

To better equip young jobseekers for the future of work, he intends to promote soft skills development such as problem-solving and communication, while preparing youth for emerging opportunities in the digital and green economies.

For migrant workers, he envisions organizing pre-departure orientation to ensure safe migration and workers’ protection. For returning migrant workers, he sees the need to support their reintegration through job referrals or entrepreneurship training.

Drawing on knowledge acquired through the ILO-supported training, Chhieng has provided career counselling and soft skills development to 977 people, including TVET students and jobseekers from across Cambodia, with 581 of the beneficiaries being female.

Through sustained capacity development in inclusive and responsive employment services, KEU Chhieng’s work is contributing to Cambodia’s long term national development strategy by advancing human capital development and promoting resilient, sustainable, and inclusive growth.

For further information please contact:
Tarinee Youkhaw
Advocacy & Knowledge Management Officer
ILO ProSSCE-ASEAN project
Email: [email protected]