Training for Ghost Employers in a Fluid Labour Market in Zambia

Table of content

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

3. Methodology

4. Findings and Discussion

5. Recommendations

6. Conclusion

7. References

Abstract: Education has been known to play a pivotal role in turning the wheels of development in any given society as it is purported to be a social equalizer. Any iota of compromise or undermining the value of education results in a downward trend in national development. Training Institutions, therefore, take Centre stage in moulding a cadre of experts that drive the economic engines in the world. It means that training institutions should train human resources in response to the Labour market. Curiously, however, Zambia, like many other countries in Africa, has not witnessed a significant increase in job access by graduates from training institutions. This study argues that training institutions in Zambia are merely churning out graduates to Ghosts as they do not know which Labour market is going to employ their products. Drawing from the above argument, the study set out to find out whether university graduates access the Labour market in their area of specialization. Being qualitative research, data collection was done through face-to-face in-depth interviews while documents such as newspapers were used as a secondary source of data. A total of 25 graduates from 3 public universities were interviewed through face to face interaction. The study revealed that most graduates end up getting jobs they were not trained in. The jobs they get are contrary to their area of specialisation as there is no ready market for them. From the findings, the study concludes that training institutions are simply training for Ghosts as their target Labour market is fluid and cannot guarantee the availability of jobs to the graduates.

Keywords: Education, Fluidity, Ghosts, Training, Job Market, National Development, graduates.

1.Introduction

Some scholars have described education as the live wire of its industries and also as the foundation of moral regeneration and the revival of its people. It is also said to be the force and bulwark of any nation's defence and according to Orji and Maekae (2013:312-320), no nation rises above the level of its education.

The National Higher Education Policy of 2019 states that strides to achieve quality and relevance in higher education have been clogged by numerous factors which include poor linkages among higher education institutions and between these institutions and industry. Other issues that have been cited are inappropriate curriculum, inadequate qualifications of academic staff, insufficient training materials and equipment; and poor teaching and learning facilities. The policy also identifies a mismatch between the skills demanded by industry and the graduates produced in higher education institutions. As a result, the graduates are unable to find employment in industry, or in some cases, they have to be retrained by their employers before recruitment (p.4.). Training institutions, therefore, find themselves at the Centre of this fire-fighting about moulding citizens who respond to the needs of the industry. However, the Zambian scenario speaks otherwise as the country has had not witnessed a significant increase in job access by graduates from higher learning institutions. Lau (2017: 7) submits that sometimes it takes a long time for some graduates to find jobs after leaving higher education and even then, some are not in jobs that appear to be well-matched to their qualifications. He further indicates that there are indications that skills mismatch or inadequate levels of skill is more of a problem than over-qualification.

Given the above, the current study focused on the prevailing situation currently in Zambia concerning the unemployment of university graduates from three (3) selected higher learning institutions. There are indications that unemployment being experienced in Zambia is structural in nature, that is, many graduates are unemployed for lack of skills necessary to fill the existing vacant positions and they are, therefore, unemployable (Haroon et al, 2015). The situation is a big challenge for the relevance of university education, and thus, needs immediate attention. Hence the objective of the current study was to find out whether university graduates access the labour market in their area of specialization. The study's central argument is that training institutions in Zambia seem to merely churn out graduates to Ghosts as they are not assured of the job market for their products.

2. Literature Review

Various studies have been done in the area of enhancing university graduates' employability and the role of education in national development. Orji and Maekae (2013) conducted a study on the role of education in National Development in Nigeria which indicated that education supplies the needed manpower for national development. Their observation is supported by Afolabi and Loto (2012:330) who state that a developed or educated polity is the one that has enough manpower and each person occupies his or her rightful position to enhance the growth of the society. Ajayi and Afolabi (2009:34-36) have also added that education is largely perceived in Nigeria as an indispensable tool which will not only assist in meeting the nation's social, political, moral, cultural, and economic aspirations but will also inculcate in the individual knowledge, skills, dexterity, character and desirable values that will foster national development and self-actualisation.

Orji and Maekae 's (2013) study also revealed that education develops in individuals those values which make for good citizenship, such as honesty, selflessness, tolerance, dedication, hard work, and personal integrity, all of which provide the rich soil from which good leadership potential is groomed. But in the absence of the labour market, such training or education is wasted efforts and resources.

As for Enric, C.R. et al (2010), they analysed the level of match between different degrees and the jobs held by graduates from the public higher education system in Catalonia, and the changes that have taken place over the last ten years in five main fields of knowledge – Humanities, social sciences, experimental science, Health Sciences, and Engineering and Architecture- in relation to the education-job match. The results of this study indicate that the field of study is clearly connected with the education job match.

In the survey conducted by Chigunta et al (2012) revealed that despite rapid economic growth in recent years, youth unemployed and underemployment in Zambia remain high. The main findings among others indicate that there are signals of future mismatch in the supply and demand of young labour. Moreover, the survey reveals that there is no likelihood that there will be sufficient demand to place all of the emerging young people seeking work as professionals, which would mean the well-educated future graduates might be forced to take up work for which they are overqualified. The survey also indicate that the length of unemployment among youth tends to be long. As such, the longer the unemployment spell, the more likely prospective employers are to carry negative perceptions of the concerned young job seeker whom they start to see as unemployable. Chigunta (2012) futher opines that the qualifications mismatch is high and more young worjers are overeducated for the work they do than undereducated.

3. Methodology

Being qualitative research, data collection was done through face-to-face in-depth interviews while documents such as newspapers were used as a secondary source of data.

3.1 Sample Characteristics

The data analysed in this study were from the interview on the labour market outcomes of five cohorts of graduates from three public higher education institutions in Zambia who completed their studies in the academic years corresponding to 2013-14, 2015-2016, 2017-2018. The study was conducted via mobile phone interviews, face to face interviews, and also through WhatsApp platform.

3.2 Sampling Technique

The study used a snowball sampling technique (non-probability sampling technique) or Chain Referral sampling. This is the case where the first participants of the study recruit future participants from among their acquaintances. Thus the sample group appears to grow like a rolling snowball (Sahaya, 2017:51). This technique was found appropriate for this kind of study since graduates knew each other well and could easily refer the researcher other potential respondents.

3.3 Data Collection Method

Semi-structured interviews were the major data collection method used in the current study. This method was chosen because it was the best for generating data for qualitative research (Briggs, 1986). It is more flexible than traditional methods such as structured interviews, questionnaires, etc. The interviewer has an interview guide with some main questions, however, as the interviewee answers, the interviewer spontaneously probes an idea and when exhausted, comes back to the prepared questions. In this way, the researcher can gain a detailed picture of a topic. Data were captured through recordings and taking of field notes in the diary.

3.4 Data Analysis

Data analysis took a pure inductive thematic approach. It was a descriptive qualitative analysis taking a narrative approach.

4. Findings and Discussion

4.1 The Status Quo

The study set out to find out whether university graduates access the labour market in their area of specialization. A total of 25 respondents from three public universities were interviewed. 15 were from public universities X representing 60% of the total respondents while 5 from public universities Y and 5 from university Z representing 20% of total respondents respectively. Of the 15 (60%) respondents 3 were employed in their field of specialization while 12 (%) were employed in different sectors as tabulated: 3 were with ZRA, 2 with Council (Local Government), 1 was in the transport sector as a conductor, 3 were with Anti-corruption commission, 2 were with the ministry of labour while 3 had joined politics and lastly, 2 were with Energy Regulation Board (ERB). Of the 15 respondents, 10 were trained as secondary school teachers while 3 were trained engineers and 2 were trained, social workers.

4.2 Job Misplacement

When asked as to why they joined the fields they were not trained in, one respondent said:

I stayed home doing nothing for two years as a trained teacher. I became a bother to my parents who had already done their part by sending me to the university. Hence, I had no choice but to join politics as a way of making quick money and live independent of my parents.

Such responses as above perhaps explain why the Zambian political scene of late has been flooded by youths who are desperate for jobs. It seems the only way graduates can survive in a fluid labour market with their hard-earned degree qualifications is to join politics and ultimately end up at the mercy of political entrepreneurs who take advantage of them by using them as political vuvuzelas as well as tools of political violence. This scenario is in sharp contrast with Orji and Maekae (2013) who submit that education develops in individuals those values which make for good citizenship, such as honesty, selflessness, tolerance, and personal integrity. Politics which is perceived as a dirty game does not seem to inculcate these values in those that seek the political kingdom. One respondent conceded that 'I don't mind about my university degree qualification as long as politics gives me financial freedom.' And the interesting finding was that of a bus conductor who indicated that :

Before I went to university and while at university, during recess, I used to work as a bus conductor to raise money for my school fees. For me, it is not strange to be found in this situation. After my graduation, I could not find a job and as such, I had to go back to something I knew better - bus conductor until I find a job I was trained in, that is, social work.

In an event that such a respondent fails to find a job completely, there is a high possibility that he may end up a minibus driver or transporter for the rest of his life because he may gradually lose interest in the job he was trained in. The training institutions' goal is not to offload graduates into the streets like the case in point but to train graduates who would enter the labour market and use their acquired skills to develop the nation. The scenario above and the one of a bus conductor who was aired on Muvi Television is a clear demonstration that institutions of higher learning train for ghost employers in a fluid labour market. This finding is consistent with Lau (2017) and Chigunta (2012) who concede that it sometimes takes longer for some graduates to find jobs after leaving higher education and that even then, some are not in jobs that appear to be well-matched to their qualifications.

4.3 Skills Mismatch

The other thematic aspect that came out of the study was that some graduates complained that some employers were telling them that the graduates did not have the skills needed in their organisations. As such, the employers took advantage of the graduates’ desperation by giving jobs that they were not trained in with meagre wages. This finding seem to be in tandem with Lau (2017) and Haroon et al (2015).

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