NIEIS placed less than 4 000 job seekers in 2017/18

WINDHOEK, 18 APR  – The Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (NIEIS) could only place 3 116 job seekers out of 15 569 applications during the 2017/18 financial year.
NIEIS was created by the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation to collect, store and update information about vacancies, as well as information on employers in Namibia and the names and qualifications of job seekers.
Motivating his ministry’s 2018/19 budget in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Erkki Nghimtina said the small number of job seekers placed demonstrates that there are serious structural challenges in a component of the employment creation strategy that intends to provide fair job opportunities for job seekers and to meet employers’ hiring needs.
The Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation Minister said among the challenges are the absence of compulsory registration by each employer of every job that is created in the country.
“It appears that many employees might have been recruited not through NIEIS, but by word-of-mouth, personal connections and straight from college, among others,” said Nghimtina.
He stressed that employment creation requires a serious and targeted approach, adding that although the State has so far tried to create the necessary conditions and conducive environment for employment creation, this has not translated into the creation of much-needed jobs.
“If the economy cannot grow and cannot create the necessary job opportunities, then it should be redesigned or remodelled,” he said.
Nghimtina further noted that the ministry will embark upon a three-year programme of technical cooperation with the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to update and upgrade NIEIS.
This will ensure that every job created is recorded by the State and provide for a true reflection of the state of affairs of employment created.
NAMPA