Graduates And Joblessness

Christian Nevell Bovee said “Mind unemployed is mind unenjoyed”. Ghana is severely affected with high rate of graduates unemployment particularly among the youth, currently Ghana has a very youthful graduates population who are unemployed that is why this menace of graduates unemployment poses a great risk to the growth and strength of Ghana.

Although lack of employment is a global problem, the case of Ghana is quite dilapidated. The effect of unemployment is usually increased poverty since it is situation that deprives the populace of good income source. Consequently the population grow poor, which is seen manifesting all over the country.


Many of Ghanaians unemployed graduates cannot meet the basic needs of life because of poverty that seem out of unemployment, that is why you find graduates living in the street in major towns and cities due to lack of ability to afford job to engage themselves. There is a lot of money embezzlement and power retention exhibited by policy maker in various sectors; this means that funds required for providing employment opportunities are diverted for selfish personal use.


With young graduates readily available in Ghana, policymakers should now start emphasizing more on entrepreneurship, besides technocrats and government ought to think about creating more employment for the unemployed graduates.


Education and training are essential for young people to enter the labour market successfully as they increase their potential productivity and employability. In developed economies, education also serves as a shield against unemployment for many graduates, and there is a strong link between educational attainment and employment outcomes. In particular, individuals with basic education or less often have the highest unemployment rates, and fare worse than those with higher levels of education at times of crisis. However, more human capital development and higher levels of education do not automatically translate into improved labour market outcomes and more jobs. In developing economies like Ghana, available job openings are limited by small formal sectors, and graduates do not necessarily possess the opportunity to them.


Conversely, unemployment is an economic indicator that refers to the numbers of the proportion of peoples in an economy who are willing and able to work, but are unable to get a job, a person in this situation is said to be unemployed. People who are not willing or able to work for whatever reason are “economically inactive” and do not count towards unemployment figures but this is not the case of unemployed graduates in Ghana.

High level of unemployment is typical of a struggling economy. Where an economy has high unemployment, it is not using its economic resources in the best possible way. Unemployment also carries significant social cost, people who are unable to find work must frequently rely on handout or benefit for income if they have financial or family commitment, this can make life extremely difficult for them.


The sense of failure, burden and rejection that being unemployed can generate has read social consequence. Studies have repeatedly linked unemployment to rising crime, prostitution, armed robbery, depression and deterioration of well-being. Ghana’s graduates’ population keeps on increasing, the result has been that more job seekers have been thrown into the labour market. Most of them moving from rural areas to urban centres in search of greater opportunities.


Ghana’s population is becoming youthful without a ready job market. Graduates unemployment is increasing via recognised as a potential trigger for social instability in Ghana. Ghana in particular faced demographic challenges as its population of young people increase and access to secure jobs continue to be scarce and problematic. Beyond economic cost or high rate of graduates unemployment and underemployment have social ramification. As we all are very much aware, the global financial crisis threatens to further strain labour market and exacerbate a tenuous situation for Ghana’s unemployed graduates. Unemployment and underemployed graduates are more exposed to conflict and illegal activities, many of them fall prey to rebel groups and cyber crime.


Things are looking bad with regards to graduates’ unemployment in Ghana now, but if graduates and youth become truly anxious they will realise that things might just work out for them, but they have to take some initiative and seek out potential and opportunities. They must realise that if they continue being unemployed they will never become self-sustaining and independent, but how do they seek these potentials and opportunities so that they will become self-sustained and independent if the direction toward creation employment is undaunted. Youth are often seen as the next generation of actors on the social and economic stage.


While it is true that the future economic development of nation depends on harnessing their energy and developing their skills, this view does not take account of the social and economic contributions that many young graduates make today. It also fail to acknowledge that many young graduates are struggling to find employment that can provide them with a safe foothold above poverty line and that their prospect of attaining such security have worsened amid the global economic malaise that has taken hold since.

The high rate of graduates’ unemployment represents both widespread personal misfortune for individual and a lost opportunity for critical national and global economic development. Unemployment in youth has been shown to have lifelong effects on income and unemployment stability, because it affected young graduates with weaker early career credential and show lower confidence and resilience in dealing with labour market opportunities and setbacks over the course of their working lives. The recent economic crisis has had a disproportionate effect on unemployed graduates.


I have spent precious time to do a thorough research on the following countries on their national career they have technologically advanced in to alleviate poverty and create job opportunities for its citizens, they include: Cuba-doctors, China-architectures, Germany-mechanics, America-technology, British-administration, Italy-shoe/clothing, Japan-electronics, Netherland-engineers and Israel-scientist, but unfortunately Ghana I couldn’t find our national career or what we have technologically advanced in.


It is a fact that the moral credibility of unemployed graduates is not worth a our depreciating pesewa, today the fact that you obtain a high-status academia certificate does not make you reputable person in the society, even the household you belong to don’t regard you, they habitually see you as a liability in the household and the society at large.


The huge sum of money they spend in paying your school fees, learning materials, accommodation, transportation and the rest is like an investment without positive outcome. Our tertiary institution keeps on harvesting fresh graduates into the job market without corresponding jobs opportunities, which means we are in deficit of jobs opportunities in Ghana.


The big question is what steps are the government is taken to salvage the situation. Even the GYEEDA (LESDEP, YESDEC, LEAP) etc. the government introduced to provide employment opportunities for the youth have purported to engulf with massive corruption. Graduates lives are in serious dilemma and prudent steps must be taken to remedy the situation, before it gets out of hands. Even today you will see persons who should be on retirement are still working in the public sector, simply because they are on contract basis, while there are fresh graduates who are desperately searching for employment opportunities but cannot find.

Most graduates after their mandatory National Service are left redundant without any expectation and they don’t even know what they are going to do with their lives. Things begins to be much difficult, these are persons who also pay electricity bill, water bill, rent, eat three daily meal and other basic needs. Martin Luther King Jnr. said “the ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenient, but where he stands at times of challenges and controversy”.


Day by day we heard of strikes and agitations from both the public and private sectors workers demanding increase in their salaries, because it is inadequate, what of the unemployed graduates who also live in the same household as the salary earner? These are young graduates of different professions, what are they going to translate what they learned into this jobless world or EDUCATION IS NOW THE LEADING CAUSE OF UNEMPLOYMENT?


I will plead with the government to take a brilliant look into this scourge to help find lasting solutions to unemployed graduates moreover, government and policy makers should also take a serious look at the catch-22 of these unemployed graduates so that their professions will be gainful and benedictions to mother Ghana.


Writer: Seidu Samad


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