Unemployment rate down by 4.5%; 143,963 benefit from gov’t employment

Government says between 2017 and 2020, it has, through the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), succeeded in connecting some 143,963 Ghanaians to various forms of employment in various initiatives.

The initiatives are Youth in Afforestation Programme, YEA Job Centre, Community Protection Programme, Arabic Instructors Module, Youth in Sanitation as well as other regional flagship programmes.

Addressing the media in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffuour-Awuah, expressed satisfaction that, under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), there has been substantial decline in unemployment rate in the country.

He made reference to the 2019 Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7), which reveals that, per the regional statistics, the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest unemployment rate of 11.8 per cent while the lowest was the Volta Region with 5.8 per cent.

He also noted that, under the gender dynamics of that survey, there were more men in the unemployment bracket than women.

The Minister is confident that the various interventions will bridge the gap.

COVID-19 job losses

Mr Baffuor-Awuah told journalists that a survey by his ministry to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on jobs in the first three months (March-June 2020) of the pandemic revealed that 11,657 lost their jobs in the process.

This followed an interview of about 44,040 people in a survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on their jobs. It came out that 17, 685 persons suffered pay cuts while there was no known record of job losses in the public sector as far as government is concerned.

The survey captured about 878 private micro, small, medium and large scale businesses and about 1.5 per cent of civil service workers.

The Minister further revealed that, following the interventions undertaken by the government to cushion businesses and the easing of restrictions, about 2849 jobs, representing 24 per cent of job losses, have been restored. Additionally, there has been a drop of 4.5 per cent in the unemployment rate, based on data from the Ghana Statistical Service.

Unemployment scheme

The Minister disclosed that a national unemployment scheme will be implemented to deal with employment issues in the future, should crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic strike Ghana or the world again.

The scheme, he explained, will provide direct income support to workers who lose their jobs or suffer pay cuts in the event of social or economic shock, and will offer “opportunities for training, re-training, apprenticeship and internships.”

The scheme, he added, will be managed by a national unemployment trust fund.

Mr Baffuor-Awuah also revealed that eight public employment centres in strategic locations are being renovated and revamped to provide active labour market services, including job matching and career guidance to job seekers.

These centre include Accra, Tema, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Tarkwa, Sunyani, Tamale and the Employment Information Branch of the Labour Department (LD).

In addition, the revamp of these centres will contribute to the full operationalisation of the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS).

Mr Baffour-Awuah also hinted that a tripartite technical committee will be established to oversee the implementation of labour policies.

He lauded President Nana Akufo-Addo on measures put in place in mitigating the crisis, and emphasized that the coronavirus has taught Ghanaians how to withstand economic shocks, particularly on matters relating to employment.

Source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Isabella Agyakwa