GEA advocates short term measures to reduce unemployment

     Accra, June 18, GNA - The Ghana Employers Association in collaboration with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for an urgent increase in access to labour market information as a short term measure to reduce the unemployment rate.

This, they said, would ensure improved career choices of individuals, especially the youth, to prevent employment mismatch and help to close the huge gap between academia and industry to increase employment.

     Mr Joseph Kingsley Amuah, a Director for Industrial Relations with the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), recommended for an increase in special assistance to women through improved access to credit.

     He outlined the recommendations at a media interaction in Accra as part of a collaborative advocacy programme by the GEA and the TUC to push for the implementation of the National Employment Policy (NEP).

     He called for the vigorous promotion of made-in-Ghana goods and services to expand the local market share to help local companies to penetrate international markets for significant expansion of production for increased employment opportunities.

    Mr Amuah said for Ghana’s economy to thrive, there was the need to promote a national system of apprenticeship that shall primarily prepare the youth and those who exit early from school to acquire proficiency in the numerous areas of skills, industry, and craftsmanship, while removing institutional and operational bottlenecks that prevented the effective functioning of the private sector.

He said the recommendations were gathered from a nationwide stakeholder sensitisation on the Policy under a BUSAC Fund programme, which targeted the unemployed youth to contribute to discussions on the need for short term measures to be implemented to create the needed job opportunities.

Mr Amuah said the 56-page NEP was launched by the Government in 2015 to, among other things, provide a framework for accelerated decent job creation through sustainable growth in all sectors, as well as ensure economic growth and national development within the framework of equity, fairness, security and dignity.

     He said it was worrying that the employment situation in the country had not improved much despite impressive economic growth, micro-economic stability and improved infrastructure in the last two decades.

Mr Amuah said the economic growth being professed did not commensurate with the level of job creation leading to massive unemployment, particularly among the youth.

He said although the NEP contained four key objectives which calls for the creation of decent jobs to meet the growing demand for employment, improved quality of jobs for employees, increased labour productivity and strengthening of governance and labour administration, has over 50 strategies which could be prioritised to address short term needs.

     Mr Prince Asafo-Adjaye, a Researcher with the TUC, said much emphasis must be placed on community driven employment creation, local participation, and creation of mechanisms to support entrepreneurship and increase capacity for inspection of business premises to ensure safety, decency and growth.

GNA