Lagos State government has said that formulation of a data system for the labour market, as well as scaling-up skill development capacity with technical, vocational education and training, is critical to reducing the rate of unemployment to a minimal level in the state and country at large.
The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Sam Egube, disclosed this at an event by the state’s Ministry of Economic Planning and Budge,t in collaboration with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and German Cooperation GIZ, tagged: “Lagos4Jobs: Public-Private Dialogue on Labour Market in Lagos State.”
Egube, yesterday, said the design and creation of the information system are to provide accurate and reliable data on current job status of residents for job creators, employers, seekers and other stakeholders.
The move by the Lagos government, he said, is targeted at the youths to address the high rate of unemployment in the state; bridge the gap between job availability and employability in the labour market and increasing more youth participation in technical and vocational education.
Egube said: “To drive initiatives around job creation, it is critical to develop a system that provides accurate and reliable data on current job status of residents of Lagos State. It is a platform where multiple stakeholders can collaboratively synergise their information, expertise and activities towards achieving the common goal – job creation and employment.
“A Labour Market Information System (LMIS) will aggregate data of Lagos residents by utilizing unique identification numbers like LASRRA number, Tax ID to track job status of residents with a view to developing initiatives that drive and continue to sustain employment and job creation.”
The Commissioner said there is a consensus on the need to tackle unemployment, especially among the youth in Lagos State, noting that the activities by different stakeholders in both private and public sectors are currently disjointed, which posed a huge challenge. He also stated the need for dialogue sessions between major players to share and deliberate on ways to bridge the gap.
Tobias Wolfgarten, who is the Teamlead, GIZ Skill Development for Youth Employment (SYKE) Project in Lagos, said the dialogue would provide avenues for various stakeholders to deliberate on relevant areas in job creation; different aspects of skill development and sustainable growth for decent employment.
He said subsequent meetings of all stakeholders of private and public sector in Lagos State, as well as some of the federal government agencies that are based in the state will chart the way forward for technical working groups, where discussions on topics such as: Technical & Vocational Education and Trainings (TVETs), employment promotion, digital transformation, migration, re-integration and business enabling environment to upturn job creation will be discussed.
