Over 17 000 jobseekers were registered on the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System (Nieis) in the 2021/22 financial year, the Employment Service Board (ESB) says.
This was contained in the ESB’s report for 2021/22.
Board chairperson Andrew Ndishishi says most jobseekers are young people between the ages of 15 and 34, which involves 65% of jobseekers.
“Furthermore, 3 765 vacancies were registered in this period, while only 1 420 jobseekers were placed,” Ndishishi says.
Launched in 2020, the board is mandated to advise the minister of labour, industrial relations and employment creation on legislation pertaining to the provision of employment services.
Ndishishi says during the period under review, the bureau registered 287 new designated employers who are required to report vacancies to the bureau.
Employers with 25 or more employees are considered designated employers.
However, this year the labour minister reduced the required number of employees for designated employers to 10, following consultation with the ESB.
In 2021, the bureau registered 848 designated employers.
The report shows that the highest number of designated employers registered on the database was recorded in the Khomas region at 131, followed by the Kavango East (24) and Hardap (18) regions.
The Otjozondjupa and Zambezi regions registered 16 each, while other regions registered 15 or fewer employers.
REPORTING OF VACANCIES
According to the report, in terms of Section 16 (1) of the Employment Services Act, all designated employers, both in the public and private sector, are required to report vacancies – whether temporary or permanent – to the bureau.
A total of 3 765 vacancies were reported to the bureau – manually and online.
The Erongo region reported the most vacancies at 1 426, followed by the Khomas region at 1 407.
“In terms of industries, the fishing industry reported more vacancies, with 1 217, followed by agriculture and forestry (341), health and social work (290),” the report says.
Other services, including community, social and personal services, reported 204 vacancies, while private households reported 198 vacancies.
The report shows most of the vacancies notified to the bureau were for skilled agriculture and fishery workers, accounting for 1 336 vacancies.
Some 869 people were working in elementary occupations during this period, of which 310 were professionals, 307 were technicians and associate professionals, 235 were clerks, and 229 worked in service shops as marketing and sales employees.
According to the statistics, more women (9 488) than men (7 514) were registered as jobseekers.
“The regional distribution shows that the Khomas region registered the highest number of jobseekers at 4 032, followed by the Kavango East region at 2 511, and the Erongo region at 1 762,” the report says.
The Omaheke region registered the lowest number of jobseekers at 89.
“Out of the total 17 002 jobseekers registered during the reporting period, 15 963 are unemployed, while 1 039 are employed jobseekers seeking better job opportunities or promotions,” it says.
In addition, out of the total number of registered jobseekers, 112 are persons with disabilities.
Out of 15 871 unemployed jobseekers, 5 573 have attained senior secondary education, while 4 220 have attained junior secondary education, and 3 402 have obtained certificates and diplomas.
“It is worth noting that 1 468 registered jobseekers have university degrees, while 856 had primary education. More females have attained university degrees (905) than males (563),” the report says.
EMPLOYERS’ NON-COMPLIANCE
The board expressed concern over the widespread non-compliance observed among designated employers.
“ . . . only a few have been in constant compliance, while the majority of them have not been complying at all,” the report says.
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