State Of Nigeria's Labour Market | Morning Brief

Ajouté : 2026-05-08

[00:00:03][music] >> Well, let's say workers' day, May Day, Labor Day, whatever you want to call it.

[00:00:09]I think we can all agree that today is a day to celebrate, reflect on, and basically plan for the future of works. And we want to have a different conversation today. And I really hope that this will add value to all of the conversations that will happen across the country, all the match past, the usual parades that we see on Labor Day. And we're joined on the program by Samantha Ifezulike, who's the head of operations at Jobberman, as well as a former president, Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Tokunbo Idowu joins us virtually.

[00:00:48]Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the program.

[00:00:53]Morning. Good morning.

[00:00:55]Well, I I know you are particularly excited cuz it's Workers' Day. You operate right in the middle of, you know, workers, labor, employment, productivity, and the rest. But I think it's always important to, you know, feel the pulse of workers, uh feel the pulse of Nigeria's labor market today.

[00:01:16]How well are we doing? You know, when you check your your pulse, you kind of wonder, "What's my BPM and the rest?"

[00:01:22]How are we doing Um in terms of unemployment, now, underemployment, wages, and the rest?

[00:01:28]I will start with unemployment.

[00:01:31]I know the statistics are there that it's maybe around like 5%, but I would say that there's a deeper line into it.

[00:01:38]It's what the numbers are saying, but then what's the reality of our market?

[00:01:43]Unemployment rate is at the high, that we know. The numbers are there, and but there's another part to it, which is underemployment.

[00:01:51]A lot of people are in the mood of hustling. Um so, they will take up any job that they get just to make ends meet, whether um you know, not qualified for the job, and non-qualified meaning that it's it doesn't mean that you don't have the right skills. It also means that perhaps I have the right skills, but I'm taking up the jobs that are below my own earning just because I need to provide for my family. Um the economy is not smiling, but we need to fit.

[00:02:19]Um and then you come down to the angle of what exactly is the labor market saying?

[00:02:27]What is making the ends to meet? We're seeing a lot of inflow of I would say the gig economy rising, but the labor market as it sits right now, the same way our economy is not doing so great, it would also get into the labor market, because right now, people are just getting whatever they need to get to get the ends to an end.

[00:02:46]Unemployment is at the high.

[00:02:48]We know. It's not looking good, but it could get better maybe if our economy gets better, it would also improve that, cuz it's linked to the buying power of people, it's linked to people getting dignified and fulfilling jobs.

[00:03:04]At the current stats, we're surviving.

[00:03:07]That's what the labor market is saying.

[00:03:09]So, we're just trying to survive.

[00:03:11]Who, we're surviving.

[00:03:13]And you said it's basically a reflection of the economy. So, if the economy does well, Yeah. the workers will do well. Yes. And I I I want to ask Mr. Idowu, um because I mean, the state of commerce is really what impacts on workers. If commerce is doing great, if industries are doing great, then I imagine that our workers will earn better. But there's also something at the heart of this which I I want to speak to, and it's about work ethic.

[00:03:44]Right? Where is the challenge really? Um Is it that Nigerians are not enterprising enough? Is it that Nigerians are not hard working enough?

[00:03:54]And again, I don't want to assume, because we can say Nigerians are hard working. But you operate right in that sector. So, where exactly is the disconnect?

[00:04:14]Guests, please go ahead. Mr. Idowu.

[00:04:16]Okay, thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

[00:04:18]Um and I would like to just step back a little, um and say that the condition of workers is a reflection of the structure of society in terms of social welfare.

[00:04:34]Every economy has challenges. The American, the British, the French, you know, it's ups and downs, and don't you remember nobody predicted the war in Iran between Iran and America and Israel, for example.

[00:04:48]So, shocks come from time to time. That is life.

[00:04:51]However, Nigeria needs to have a discussion, a critical discussion between the private sector and the public sector the kind of society in which we want to have, and it must then be one that provides, you know, the basics, uh structures in affordable transportation, uh affordable health care, uh affordable housing, uh and affordable education uh for the generality of the Nigerian people.

[00:05:25]Uh so, irrespective of any shock, either wars or economic dislocation, COVID, society already has a structure in place that provide the basic for its people.

[00:05:39]I think the absence of the structure of social welfare system in Nigeria will continue to affect our situation when we have unexpected shocks in global economy that also affect country. I think we are mature enough uh to begin to have that discussion between and I am bringing up this discussion, uh the labor unions themselves can convocate this series of discussions with bringing the private sector and the public sector to begin to look at a martial plan uh for Nigerian workers. Uh it is not enough to continue to increase salaries because inflation will erode it, uh but having a structured system where the Nigerian worker can have living wage, public housing, uh comfortable travel, affordable transportation, uh to be able to survive and live a meaningful life irrespective of economic allowances that comes up from time to time.

[00:06:43]Let's talk about Let's talk about how this is created, because it's institutions that produce the people that eventually work at the different, you know, whether in the private sector, in the public sector, whether people want to go into business, or people who uh do want to get a job in the corporate space, that's I mean, the 9-to-5s.

[00:07:04]When you look at the curriculum of Nigeria, given what we're dealing with, are you thinking what some persons are alluding to to the fact that we may have to review our curriculum such that certain courses should no longer be studied in Nigerian universities, so that we don't just give people false hope and put them into a quagmire, they come out, they can't really practice anything much. Do you subscribe to that as well?

[00:07:31]Well, I think that is an important subset.

[00:07:34]It is an important subset of the larger uh question.

[00:07:40]Uh yes, because of the emergence of technology, um we need to retool, reskill our educational system, provide proper training uh for teachers, and motivate them.

[00:07:55]The teachers are also part of the working class.

[00:07:58]So, if we have a global uh picture of social welfare system and hold on compassion uh for every policy formulation, if compassion is at the base of it, uh it means that the basics of life house, education, health, transportation, a global program that is set for the Nigerian working class. That is the subject of what kind of courses that we need to do is important, but the minor subset of the general issue. Every single area of courses, humanities, science, STEM, technology are important in national aspects.

[00:08:45]Um so, in reality, yes, we need to do more investment in technology schools, technical education colleges, bring skills into the fold in a century where there are no jobs at only cost of Uh the advent of technology has made it imperative that we need to skill up in our institutions and put more funding in technical vocational education.

[00:09:13]However, the discussion should be going forward, uh a discussion about a social welfare system for this country.

[00:09:23]Nigerians are mature enough to have a universal health system, but its people should be able to have mass and affordable housing for its people, and cheap and affordable transportation.

[00:09:33]That is the discussion that we must begin to have uh to be able to solve the problem of consistent workers' discontent and all kinds of issues about welfare of the Nigerian worker.

[00:09:45]Let let me bring in Samantha. Let me talk to you on that I went to curriculum. Now, I want to talk about the labor market itself, which you mentioned.

[00:09:54]There could be the fact that there are places that are in need of workers. Yes.

[00:09:59]That we don't have critical mass. And then there are as a sectors that uh there's really no work, but everybody is flocking in that direction. Is that something you can help us walk and say, "Okay, this from your experience, from what you know, this industry is super saturated. There's limited space, but this place is looking for people. So, where are Why are people saying there are no jobs?"

[00:10:22]Okay, so I think that it's a I would say things is one sector.

[00:10:26]Right? I would say that our our education system is needs to be proactive.

[00:10:33]In the sense that the crop of people that have come out from educational systems are not able to fit directly into the workforce. So, it might not be one sector, it might be a generational >> can they fix? There's a skill gap issue.

[00:10:46]Um In schools, the courses that are still in schools are the courses that were I wouldn't say the oil boom era, but I would still say the oil boom era. Um >> [clears throat] >> Meaning that jobs have changed. Right? Um gone are the days whereby you did not have um something called digital marketing or social media, but people really need those skills right now because we're in a global society, meaning that if you're unable to translate your old marketing techniques into the new generation, there's a problem. And company need ready-to-go talent. Meaning that the schools need to also look at the curriculum and say, "What is the market What is the labor market requesting for?

[00:11:26]How can I tweak my curriculum?" You see a lot of people leave schools and take short courses, not because they probably did not get a good degree, because they cannot translate the degree that they got in school into the workforce. You want to mention those courses.

[00:11:40]>> [laughter] >> Shake the table. There's soft skills. Um There's something called personal effectiveness. As little as it seems, right? You get an entry-level person comes into the office, the person is as clueless. Your boss assigns maybe like five tasks to you. You're not sure which one is the first thing you should go for, which one is the second thing you could go for. But there are courses that tell you what is the urgent, what is important. How do you communicate in the workplace? How do you actually have social communication with people?

[00:12:06]Because that's how you used to thrive in the workplace. But our education system has um it's quite theory-focused.

[00:12:13]It's not solving what the real-time problem is.

[00:12:16]And then again, um there's a need for I would say curriculum revision.

[00:12:23]Across what?

[00:12:24]Um so, technology is changing very fast.

[00:12:27]You can't use a curriculum of 1960 or 1970 or even the early 2000 for 2025 or 2026, because there's always frequent updates.

[00:12:38]And you're seeing a lot of companies spend monies to actually train those people that have maybe passed through their assessment for maybe like two to three months before they get on the job.

[00:12:48]Companies are the ones who are doing the education for people. So, you see a lot of banks, oil and gas industries hiring for graduate training, and that that training period will probably be like two to three months, because they need to hire you fresh off school and then begin to educate you to fit what their clients require.

[00:13:07]So, until we get the schools to bridge that gap and say that if I'm going to get someone from maybe um a public school or private school, um they have that ready skills already available. Um we also as a brand we do trainings with the private sector, public sectors just to get just to try and bridge that gap, because that's our commitment to the society. But I wish that we would have a system whereby our education, the crops that we get from schools, would be ready fit to the labor market.

[00:13:37]>> I was hoping that you would mention those courses. Are they So, is this sociology, philosophy, English education, religious studies?

[00:13:48]You know, such that, you know, the the education system, the managers would then know whether to make those courses sub courses such that, you know, um our young persons can take up courses that the Yeah. town needs. And the perhaps they can take up those other courses as, you know, supporting courses. So, I would say that um there's digital marketing skills, right? Um there's data analytics, right? Um most times you see people that are doing industrial mathematics coming to data, right? Um I would say at some point in time in my previous life, I like to call my ex workplace previous life, I had cases whereby people would come out of school.

[00:14:28]And these are like top schools in Nigeria, either from engineering background into accounting.

[00:14:35]But they were good at it.

[00:14:37]So, sometimes you also need to either invest in career counseling for these people. Again, our parents also have a part to play. Everybody had back in the days in the oil boom era, we either wanted to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, and nurses, and what not. But right now, if you tell someone that I am a digital marketing making a million bucks or making so much money, your parents probably cannot relate to you because they kind of told you to go this path. But those skills are becoming I wouldn't say obsolete, but they're not in high demand.

[00:15:07]Mhm. You see people doing content creation. Let's not get into the gig economy.

[00:15:12]Content creation actually earning a very good means to an end. But people they also need to employ maybe content creators who maybe help them with their businesses, YouTubers, editors, videographers, producers, and directors, because we live in the era whereby media and social media is what is I wouldn't say is in vogue. It's what's making our society better. The new economy.

[00:15:38]>> economy, this creative economy. It's something we don't even look at. So, imagine if you had people if you had a very good school that could do music production, you know, skills that they pay million bucks for.

[00:15:51]There's a reason why our giants are flying high. So, imagine if you had a lot of giants that were not that are not untapped yet, that the schools have been not able to bring out, what would our economy be like? And that's quite instructive. Let's talk about another part, you know, which you touched on earlier and see whether it has to do with retooling such that those who fall within that category can receive counseling on, you know, better direction. And this has to do with underemployment.

[00:16:17]Every now and then you find, you know, some persons with a master's degree who is taking up a job as a driver, you know, someone who had who studied geography and regional planning who is you know, in another sector, perhaps in the education sector alien to where they would have rather practiced.

[00:16:36]From the vantage point where you stand as someone who processes, you know, applications, what exactly is the problem? Are they not looking in the right places for the jobs or they need some retooling to make them better positioned?

[00:16:52]So, I would say that Nigerians like to collect certificates.

[00:16:58]But then are the certificates very essential to you?

[00:17:01]Our upbringing is one that would require you to get this and get this and then get that. But then again, if you decide to pause and say, "Where am I going to?

[00:17:08]What certificates do I need to acquire to get to where I need to get to?" Then it gets clearer.

[00:17:14]Right? Because um The master's degrees are there. That's why I also linked our current labor market to what the economy is doing. If we had a very, you know, elaborate economy, job creation was so like we had a vast serious percentage of job job creation, it would be better. But in situation whereby our labor market is it's been I would not say overtaken by the gig economy and informal work, but that's what it is. You're seeing more car hailing like drivers, and it actually amounts to a high percentage of our employer in the labor market as we sit right now.

[00:17:51]You have the logistics and rest of it.

[00:17:53]So, I would say that if anybody needs to be proactive, think about where you're going to as a person and begin to get certifications towards that direction.

[00:18:02]But again, as a recruiter and as an HR person, stand out.

[00:18:06]Because for employers, they just need to get people that will stand out and provide value to their employees.

[00:18:12]You know, I'm tempted to ask you where is one sector that you know if someone applies now, you are most likely to get a job, because you have the data, right?

[00:18:20]So, what is that sector before we go to Mr. Dele Alake quickly?

[00:18:24]So, within Q4 last year and early this year, I'm seeing the rise of entry-level roles across tier one banks, oil and gas, and other services, FMCG, too. Maybe because the economy is picking up again, but you will see a lot of them there. Um so, my advice to everyone is um check There are jobs out there, but are you fit for the jobs? FMCGs are hiring.

[00:18:46]You're seeing a lot of oil and gas hiring. You're seeing lots of um tier one banks hiring, also.

[00:18:52]And beyond that, too, there's a gig economy. You can also get your skills and export your talents to other people.

[00:19:00]Give me a moment. I've heard that so much.

[00:19:04]But Mr. Dele Alake, let's wind down with you. And it's back to the question I asked earlier about work ethic. There's a sense that you work to get paid. Uh when for others, you work to add value.

[00:19:16]You work to fulfill purpose. So, I you could see, and I'm not trying to diminish anyone, uh Japanese who's making uh just a very simple meal, and the kind of um uh dedication he has to he he puts in it, you almost think that this man is building uh the biggest thing ever. So, which is why I go back to work ethic. Do you think that can also help us shape the outcomes that we get from our workforce if we see work as a purpose, if we see work as something that is adding up to the big picture.

[00:19:52]Well, I you're right large extent and I believe that Nigerians generally are hard workers.

[00:20:00]What has happened to them is the dysfunction in the educational system.

[00:20:07]If that is to be fixed However, there's another bigger picture. In the 21st century a portfolio life is likely to give you a sense of worth and a living in which rather than just jobs.

[00:20:22]It means that beyond the jobs that we have, none of us many of us cannot survive on our current salaries.

[00:20:29]It is just impossible.

[00:20:31]So, we are encouraged to develop what we call a portfolio life. That means look at your natural and pedigree talents.

[00:20:40]Natural talents will be the gifts that God has given to you. Pedigree will be those things you learned perhaps from your parents as a child.

[00:20:48]And then move away from your core competence which is your salary job and activate this natural or and pedigree talent for additional income.

[00:21:00]I think it's important for Nigerians to recognize that the days of men going to work 9:00 to 5:00 and coming back home and living on just their core competence income is over.

[00:21:11]We need to do extra jobs beyond our 9:00 to 5:00 jobs.

[00:21:16]All over the world, our brothers and sisters in the diaspora that remit billions of dollars have multiple jobs.

[00:21:23]They have a core job which is the core area of competence and they have other things to do.

[00:21:27]So realize that the system has changed, society has changed. We are out of the boom era.

[00:21:33]We are in the global economy. So, Mr. Adebayo, are you saying the average Nigerian worker can work harder?

[00:21:39]Oh, yes. We can work harder. We can create other forms of income beyond our core salary. Okay, no employer and I've been an employer for 40 years. Right. No employer can pay a living wage salary in a difficult economy. So, everybody has a responsibility to leverage on their natural and pedigree talent in creating additional income All right. to ensure that they are able to survive the challenges of the 21st century.

[00:22:06]Also, we still have a lot of work to do, but I I'm very very happy that you brought in this angle.

[00:22:13]Maybe when we switch to the hourly rate, then employers will begin to see how much they are paying their employees hourly and employees will begin to say, "Well, I'm just going to work for 4 hours here today. Let me move to this place and work for another 5 hours and aggregate."

[00:22:26]Mr. Adebayo Adebayo, thank you for this angle you've brought in. Former President, Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce as well as Samantha Fez head of operations at Jobberman. Thank you for the pointers by the way.

[00:22:39]You can thank us later. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much for having me.

[00:22:45]>> [music]