ADVERTISEMENT

How easy is it to change your job in Ghana?

Around the world, millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000) have been described as “human resource nightmares” because they are less likely to stay with one job for a significant period of time.

 

Around the world, millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000) have been described as “human resource nightmares” because they are less likely to stay with one job for a significant period of time.

A recent post by one of Ghana’s popular bloggers puts the issue into the Ghanaian context.

In a Facebook post titled Change is good but change is hard, Efo Dela talked about his experience moving from his ‘comfortable’ job at the airport to a current one at a tech startup.

ADVERTISEMENT

After two years he felt he “hadn’t developed the way [he] expected.” It is interesting to note that Dela didn’t leave; he worked for another two years. So why didn’t he leave?

“I kept telling myself things like, "you need the 3 years working experience" or "finding a job in Gh is hard. You've got a good job appreciate it"; the computer engineering graduate said in the post.

Unemployment among recent graduates is high in Ghana. There is even an association called the Ghana Unemployed Graduates Association. In 2015, the Weekend Finder newspaper reported that its membership had more than doubled over the past two years.

According to the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) since the 1960s, unemployment among those aged 15 and 24 has always been higher than those aged 45 and 64. This is contained in the second edition of the Ghana Social Development Outlook (GSDO) which was published in 2014.

Successive governments have instituted policies such as the mandatory one year National Service Scheme for graduates and the Youth Employment Agency to give young people some much needed work experience demanded by employers.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, the ISSER finds that these programmes have not provided “long-term benefits for participants” over time.

This situation appears to buck the global trend where longevity at one job is out of the question for young people. According to a study titled Multiple Generations @ Work, 91 percent of the millennials surveyed expected to stay at one job for less than a year. That is, 15 to 20 jobs over their working life.

So the answer is pretty simply. There are not enough jobs to go round so graduates feel incredibly lucky when they eventually get that first stable job that comes around. Until they secure another, they don’t leave. Many have therefore found themselves “trapped” in a job that they have fallen completely out of love with.

Have you changed jobs? How easy was it for you?

Tell us your experience at info@pulse.com.gh

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT