WINDHOEK – The ministry of labour and employment creation has been struggling to find job placements for thousands of Namibians currently unemployed.
Of the 101 899 unemployment people on its database, only 5 600 were placed in employment in the last six years. The Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (NIEIS) operates as an employment service bureau, and companies or institutions employing more than 25 people are required to report job vacancies to the portal to help fast track the recruitment process.
However, labour market services director in the ministry, Albius Mwiya, said institutions, including government agencies, are not complying with the law and are not registering vacancies on the system. He added government has not completed updating the recruitment system to align it to the law, hence the low job placements. According to Mwiya, employers register vacancies on their system. Thereafter, the ministry puts it up on the system and matches it with jobseekers that are registered with them.
“We have a web-based matching system. So far, government has not complied with that because it has not completed updating the recruitment system to align to the law,” stated Mwiya. The freezing of government vacancies also remains a serious challenge, according to Mwiya.
“That is why you see graduates are unemployed. Previously, we didn’t have that problem. We had a problem of Grade 10 and 12 failures but now we have a problem of [unemployed] graduates. Opportunities are not really enough to absorb our target group,” stated Mwiya.
According to the ministry website, the purpose of the system is to register job seekers, vacancies in the public and private sector, and assist job seekers in finding suitable employment. On the systems, companies are to upload vacancies, tenders and grants.
The registered job seekers can manage their online resume, search and apply for available opportunities online, and have their online resume permanently stored and available for viewing by employers.
Mwiya added that although they receive requests from the industry, they couldn’t fill some positions because they are unable to match the necessary experience required.
“Like, the industry will tell you they want a qualified engineer with these years of experience, and then there is an engineer who only has two years of experience. But, if the employer says five years, then already the system does not match the person because they don’t match the requirements,” he said. He added employers could fill vacancies within seven days. “Within a week, you get a person and you recruit. We don’t interfere. It is the employer’s prerogative to make a choice,” stated Mwiya.