About 14 percent of Ghanaian unemployed graduates plan to travel abroad to seek greener pastures should their situation persist for six months.
This was revealed in a report by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in partnership with Fondazione Edu, which specializes in higher education in Africa.
According to the report, the graduates who plan to travel abroad have been unemployed in the country’s labour market for a period of five years, spanning from the time they completed their national service.
Experts have also predicted that Ghana’s graduate unemployment would increase from the existing 200,000 to 271,000.
Employment Patterns
The findings revealed that 38 percent of the graduates get employed by organizations where they offered their national service, while 17 percent acquire jobs from applications to organizations.
However, 10 percent get jobs through personal contacts and six percent of the graduates secure jobs through internship programmes, while another five percent return to their previous jobs.
The report also showed that only five percent are self-employed, while four percent contact employers “blindly.”
Clara Osei-Boateng, an independent researcher, who presented the findings on the linkages involving academia, industry and the labour market situation, said the outcome proved that some of the graduates had been unwaged for a period of five years.
Dr Emmanuel Newman, Director of National Council for Tertiary Education, said there were many hindrances to job search “but job opportunities abound in the country.”
“I don’t think graduates should have in mind or join an association called Unemployed Graduates Association because when that happens, then they are already defeated.
“Just as Zoomlion Ghana has created jobs for many people, other jobs can be found at places where they least expect,” ” he said.
The research was conducted within four months from December 2015, and it covered 425 respondents. Out of that, 225 were graduates while 200 were still students in tertiary institutions.
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