Socio-economic Challenges for the Employment-Driven Construction Sector in an Emerging Asian Economy: Skills Development, Access to the Labor Market, Employment Opportunities, and Quality of Employment

The construction sector in many emerging Asian economies plays a critical role in generating employment but also faces significant socio-economic challenges, including the shortage of qualified personnel and limited access to formal skills development pathways. This study addresses socio-economic challenges for a self-reliant, employment-driven economy by examining how masonry training contributes to skills development, labor market access, employment opportunities, and the quality of employment in Nepal’s construction sector. Despite growing policy emphasis on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), empirical evidence remains limited on how such programs respond to socio-economic challenges by simultaneously improving labor market access, expanding employment opportunities, and strengthening employment quality outcomes in post-disaster and migration-affected contexts. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of masonry training to four interrelated employment dimensions: skills, access, opportunity, and quality. The analysis is based on primary survey data collected in 2020 from 134 trained masons in Bagmati Province, Nepal, who had completed certified masonry training and gained subsequent labor market experience. Data were gathered using a 20-item Likert-scale questionnaire covering four employment indicators, and the responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) in SPSS version 26 to assess perceived post-training changes. The results show that employment skills recorded a mean score of 3.69 (SD = 0.92), with market relevance of skills rated highest (M = 4.40), indicating strong alignment between training content and labor market demand. Employment access achieved the highest overall mean (M = 4.03, SD = 0.54), and respondents strongly agreed that the demand for the mason trade is high (M = 4.56), confirming favorable market absorption of trained workers. Employment opportunity also showed a moderately high mean (M = 3.96, SD = 0.69), with equal treatment in employment rated at 4.41. At the same time, entrepreneurship skills scored comparatively lower (M = 3.00), revealing uneven gains in business capability development. However, employment quality recorded a lower mean (M = 3.16, SD = 1.29); although income increased after training (M = 3.88), the ability to purchase health insurance remained limited (M = 2.69), indicating that improvements in earnings have not fully translated into broader social protection or long-term welfare gains. Overall, the aggregate mean score of 3.71 (SD = 0.78) demonstrates that masonry training positively contributes to employment outcomes, while also highlighting structural gaps in social protection and employment stability. These findings open new directions for research and policy to address socio-economic challenges through integrated TVET reforms that strengthen labor market access, promote employment opportunities, and improve the quality of employment in construction-driven economies.