Groups partner to bridge skills, unemployment gap

As part of its recruitment and selection strategy, outsourcing and recruitment company, MacTay, under its subsidiary Global Manpower Limited, has partnered with Huawei to host a job fair to bridge the skills and unemployment gap among Nigerian youths.

The fair, which was held in Abuja, was a measure to close the gap between the demand of jobs by graduates and the supply of qualified talents to organisations.

Head of Recruitment and Assessment, MacTay, Bayonle Oduola, stressed that the brain-drain scourge, which has impacted manpower in Nigeria, has opened up an avenue for recruiters to be rightly positioned and create strategies for a balanced world of work.

“The brain drain scourge has significantly impacted manpower adversely in Nigeria and MacTay recruitment services are positioned to close the gap between the demand for jobs by graduates, and supply of qualified talents to organisations. This, we do, through our employee/HR outsourcing, learning, and development solutions, which enable us to train and to place. We are constantly helping businesses and talents grow,” he said.

On the collaboration with Huawei, he said, “our goal is to reduce unemployment in Africa and we understand that strategic partnerships and collaborations of this nature are crucial to getting us there. Our positioning is indeed, unique and we are constantly empowering Nigerian youths to improve their skills through our soft skills and Tech programs under the MacTay Academy. This initiative by Huawei is highly commendable and we look forward to greater partnerships in the near future.”

According to Oduola, Nigeria’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy recently partnered with Huawei towards developing ICT talents by signing an MOU to train students in ICT, thereby, expanding the digital economy, which is done through various interventions and partnerships.

According to Huawei, “this is one of the profound components of Huawei skills development strategy and the youths are urged to seize the opportunity by ensuring that they market themselves and showcase their potential. The job fair is an important part of the Huawei talent ecosystem development strategy, which aims at developing talents, promoting a favorable business environment, and strengthening partnerships within the industry.”

The fair, held in Abuja, attracted qualified candidates in IP technologies, Information Technologies, channel management, programming, data engineering, account management, delivery management, procurement and channel sales, among others.

Candidates had opportunity to connect to prospective employers, even as HR personnel were on the lookout for certified applicants, interns, and graduate trainees.

The fair was also open to NYSC members, who were on the lookout for a place of primary assignment.