The government, as part of efforts to catch pace with the contemporary labour market, is upgrading logistical and human resources across labour departments in the country.
This exercise aims to turn around rudimentary processes and procedures at the labour departments and thereby meet modern expectations.
Christened Public Employment Centre (PEC), the project along aims to change the narrative and develop critical skills sets for national economic transformation, minimisation of the skills mismatch and reducing unemployment, among others.
Public Employment Centres (PECs), established by the Labour Act, 2003, provide the public with frontline labour market services, including job matching, job placement, counselling, provision and collection of labour market statistics and information, labour inspections and processing workmen’s compensation issues, among other labour-related services.
Currently, Ghana has 64 existing PECs under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations’ (MELR) supervision, operating as district offices of the Labour Department.
However, due to deterioration, many of the existing PECs are currently in deplorable conditions, hindering their ability to offer valuable services to job- seekers and employers alike.
Addressing a function at Konongo-Odumase in the Asante Akim Central Municipality of the Ashanti Region, where he commissioned a newly constructed Public Employment Centre, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, disclosed that the government had noticed a gap in labour departments across Ghana which was stifling their operations, hence the introduction of the PECs.
“We noticed that the world of work is changing and we needed to upgrade the logistical and human resources capacity of the Department to make it more competitive and capable of meeting contemporary labour market needs,” he indicated.
According to Mr Baffour-Awuah, at the onset of the project, they realised how uncoordinated the Ghanaian labour market was coupled with ill resources and inadequate information dissemination for stakeholders.
“At the time of project design, we noticed that the fragmented nature of the labour market coupled with the deplorable state of infrastructure at the Department made it difficult for the Ministry to coordinate and promote employment services.
“The Department was heavily constrained in terms of the collection and dissemination of information regarding interactions in the labour market to enable stakeholders (employers, jobseekers, training institutions, curriculum developers and policy makers) take informed decisions about the dynamics of the labour market, ” he underlined.
He told the forum that the newly constructed PECs was one way of positioning of the LD to enable it to provide quality services to employers, jobseekers and training institutions.
According to the Minister, the project, aimed at enhancing avenues for jobseekers to make enquiries about the availability of job vacancies, post their career profiles on the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS) and interact with employers.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante-Akim Central, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, lauded the government for the project, adding that it would go a long way in shaping issues related to labour and employment.
The Krontihene for Konongo- Odumase, Nana Asiedu Kotwi, applauded the government for the PEC, and called for a good maintenance culture to expand its lifespan.
Nana Kotwi also urged the public to desist from using the PEC for their house chores
FROM KINGSLEY E. HOPE, KONONGO
