Namibian jobs: Something dramatically different is needed to tackle the crisis

In Namibia&#039;s most rural regions, 2023 broad unemployment rates stand upwards of 60%, while 65% of the employed population earns less than N$5 000 per month.The national broad unemployment rate has increased from 33.4% in 2018 to a staggering 54.8% in 2023, while the strict unemployment rate has risen from 19.8% to 36.9%.According to the National Planning Commission in a 2020 paper on unemployment, as well as the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) in labour force surveys such as that in 2018, the broad definition is considered a better measurement and is very useful in developing economies such as Namibia, where work opportunities are limited, and potential workers may give up after an unsuccessful period of job hunting.Reliance on the strict definition is misplaced and inappropriate for Namibia, given the large presence of an informal market and impoverished households who cannot actively seek employment through recruitment agencies, job advertisements, the internet and the like. These households, typically in rural areas where home internet access sits at 5% and mobile connectivity sits at 16%, tend to suffer from geographical immobility and require migration to urban areas to have a slightly better chance of obtaining employment.Left outNational policy planning on a 36.9% unemployment rate leaves nearly 350 000 unemployed individuals out of policy considerations – more than the number of individuals classified as unemployed under the strict definition. This group cannot be treated as an optional statistic in policy planning, as we would be ignoring the lived reality of hundreds of thousands of Namibians suffering without work.Unfortunately, infrequent collection of crucial statistics such as labour force data means Namibia is unable to take a proactive approach to control the situation as it progresses. Namibia falls behind all her neighbouring countries in this regard, with Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa all collecting labour force data every three months (with Zambia collecting this annually).These countries have been able to recover from the pandemic, as they have steered policies and prioritisation in the right direction shortly after changes in the labour force occur – while Namibia has waited more than five years to measure its progress (or, in this case, regress) in addressing job creation.It is difficult to imagine how Namibia can materially reverse a broad unemployment rate of 54.8% in the next few years. The survey has shown that none of Namibia&#039;s blindfolded efforts have worked, and something dramatically different is needed to tackle the crisis.*Tannan Groenewald is the head of data and analytics at Cirrus.**Article via Cirrus

Namibian jobs: Something dramatically different is needed to tackle the crisis

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-19

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Namibian jobs: Something dramatically different is needed to tackle the crisis

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-19

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