Description:
According to Government, Ghana is facing
many challenges in the area of skill development and job
creation. The Government is particularly concerned with: (i)
unemployment among the youth (6.1 percent in 2005 for 15-24
years old), which has been attributable to the rapid
population growth rate of the youth, the rapid urbanization
rate, the quality of labor supply, and low labor absorption
rate of the economy; and (ii) the external efficiency of the
education training system and its ability to supply the
skills demanded by a diversified and competitive economy.
Moreover, other related concerns include: channeling
economic growth toward creating jobs, including 'good
jobs'; better understanding the functioning of the
informal sector; explaining the mismatch between skills
development and jobs; improving labor market indicators;
monitoring and evaluating employment programs'
outcomes; reviewing the role of labor market regulations in
job creation; and reforming technical vocational education
and training (TVET) systems. The key objective of
Ghana's development policy is to accelerate economic
growth and put the creation of new and better jobs at the
center of the Government agenda. In this context, and
complementing the recent Country Economic Memorandum (CEM)
and earlier Bank's work on youth employment, this
report addresses labor market challenges that Ghana is
facing, particularly as it strives for middle income status
by 2015. This report: (a) briefly reviews the determinants
of labor demand; (b) analyzes labor market outcomes based on
recent survey data; (c) reviews the role of labor policies,
institutions and programs; and (d) examines education and
skills development policies and their links to labor market outcomes.