Government, through the ministry of labour, has registered 2 945 jobseekers during the fourth quarter, from January to March 2021, and only managed to place 234 jobseekers for employment in different establishments.
The ministry, which is entrusted with the registration of jobseekers for job matching through the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (NIEIS), provided the figures in a quarterly report. The 2018 National Labour Force Survey conducted by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) indicates the unemployment rate at 33.4% while youth unemployment is estimated at 46%. According to Bro-Matthew Shinguadja, the executive director at the ministry, at least 296 vacancies were reported to the Employment Services Bureau (ESB) by different designated employers, whereby the fishing sector reported many vacancies (109) and public administration, defence and social protection reported 47 vacancies.
Shinguadja said although the number of retrenchments has reduced a little bit compared to the previous three quarters of the current financial year, the recorded number of retrenchments (955) this quarter remains a setback.
The number of people retrenched in quarter one of the current financial year was 5 748, quarter two 3 484, and quarter three was 1 023.
Shinguadja said the number of retrenchments has been on an increase since the Covid-19 outbreak in Namibia last year in March.
He stated that it is for this reason, among others, that the ministry, together with the Namibia NSA, planned to embark on a survey to determine the impact of Covid-19 on the labour force.
For improved job prospects and workplace professional skills among the graduates, some of who end up as jobseekers, Shinguadja noted that the ministry has collaborated with the National Youth Service (NYS) to have students placed as interns in various institutions for a period of six months to advance their skills.
Out of 2 945 jobseekers registered during the period under review, 1 552 are males and 1 393 are females. Khomas region registered the majority of jobseekers (1 119) followed by Erongo (803).
He said the regions with the lowest number of jobseekers registered are Kavango West (31), Omaheke (25), Ohangwena (23) and Otjozondjupa (11). The report further indicated that out of the total jobseekers registered this quarter, 2 356 are unemployed while 589 are under employed jobseekers looking for better employment opportunities. Only 21 of the jobseekers registered are people with disabilities.
When disaggregated by age, the report showed that most of the jobseekers registered (795) are in the age bracket of 25-29, followed by 30-34-age bracket (588), and 20-24 (564).
According to the ministry of higher education, Namibia has over 67 000 unemployed graduates.
The ministry said universities should consider cutting intakes for courses which are currently having an oversupply of graduates on the job market. It urged all Namibian institutions to help the government reduce the unemployment rate by offering programmes that lead to value addition and of course exposing graduates to be self-employable.
Last year, the top three universities in Namibia, namely the University of Namibia (Unam), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the International University of Management (IUM) produced approximately 7 383 graduates.
-mndjavera@nepc.com.na
Caption: Cul-de-sac… While Namibia has over 67 000 unemployed graduates, the ministry of labour only managed to place 234 jobseekers for employment from January to March 2021.
Photo: File