Job Fair ends in Accra

Government has put the creation of decent jobs at the centre of its national development agenda, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, has said.

This, he said, was because, unemployment of particularly the youth has assumed alarming proportions in developing countries.

The Minister said this last Thursday in Accra at the opening of a one-day Job Fair organised by the Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (GCC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) and Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana

The fair which brought together more than 140 employers to present close to 1000 job vacancies with an estimation of at least 2,000 qualified job seekers for the purpose of recruitment also served  as a counselling and advisory centre which links clients to employment and educational opportunities.

The event also provided a platform to discuss and exchange on skills match and employment promotion as vehicles for economic growth in Ghana.

Mr Awuah said unemployment has become a national security concern and governments all over the world were beginning to recognise, thus the government rising up to the challenge to put in place measures to create decent job for the youth.

He said through the Nation Builders Corp (NABCO) programme, about 100,000 graduates have been engaged in different sectors of the economy while the Youth Employment Agency through its Youth in Entrepreneurship Development has created many jobs.

“Many job seekers can remain unemployed principally because they lack information about available information opportunities which require knowledge and skill sets”, he said.

Mr Awuah said with the maiden job fair organised in 2018, the Ministry was able to place 100 job seekers in vacancies declared by participating corporate bodies adding that this year, the target was to create an opportunity to about 1,000 job seekers after engaging with employers participating in the fair.

He said linking job seekers to potential employers was critical for the promotion of social inclusion and the elimination of information asymmetry in the labour market which was an intervention commonly found in countries all over the world.

BY LAWRENCE MARKWEI