The importance of the vocational training centers in providing labor to the furniture industry in Turkey

The furniture industry in Turkey has been expanding year by year. The amounts of exports have increased every year since 2001. Turkish businessmen have gained excellent experience in the steps of design, production, and sales. The value of Turkey’s exports of furniture was $2,200,000 at the end of 2015. Even so, the furniture industry has some important labor problems. Various educational institutions train students for furniture industry, e.g., industrial vocational schools, vocational training centers, and vocational high schools. But, adequate numbers of workers have not been provided to the furniture industry. In this study, we investigated the importance of the vocational training centers in providing workers for the furniture industry in Turkey. Some important data were collected concerning the students over the last five years. These data were used to analyze the labor situation in the furniture industry. The remarkable conclusion of the research is that the total number of students dropped by approximately 50 % from year 2010 to 2014. In this context, the furniture sector which already has staff shortage will likely go through tough times in finding qualified personnel in the future