The persistent crisis of graduate unemployment in Namibia

Graduating from university is one of the most joyful moments every graduate will never forget, as it marks the opening of doors to opportunities and employment.

Yet, for many, graduation marks the beginning of prolonged job searching, travelling long distances for interviews, rejection, and unemployment.

Graduating and being unemployed, or taking more than three to four years to secure a job, is one of the most frustrating experiences many graduates face nowadays.

Unlike around 2000 to 2009, when I observed that you graduated and got a job the next day, things have now changed.

Besides, some graduates were self-funded, and their parents or guardians sacrificed their hard-earned income – slaughtering cattle that were meant to support the whole family – just to educate their children.

The only perceived job creation in Namibia is when you hear that the ministry of home affairs, the Namibia Defence Force, or Correctional Service is recruiting.

But we hardly hear of other ministry vacancies, aside from chief executive officer roles. The economy cannot benefit from an educated population if sufficient employment opportunities are not created in both the public and private sectors.

Some leaders have been pointing fingers at graduates, saying they have studied the “wrong” professions. There is no such thing – graduates study what they love, and every profession is important and needed.

Even therapists are important. So the narrative that graduates studied the wrong professions is merely words of discouragement, pushing people to study courses not of their interest because of public perception.

Another major problem, and one I urge the public and private sectors to do away with, is the continued appointment or reappointment of retired individuals to positions that could also be filled by graduates who are roaming the streets with their qualifications.

When will graduates be given free and fair opportunities to prove themselves and perform at their best? Relying heavily on retired professionals can reduce opportunities for younger, qualified graduates to gain the work experience needed to build their careers.

One recent practical example is the appointment of the executive director from the ministry of justice and labour relations as chief executive officer of the Social Security Commission – a job that was supposed to be given to a young graduate.

Another issue that warrants public discussion is the experience employers require. Would you find a company asking for three to five years of experience? 

Imagine young graduates from universities being required to have such experience – where will it come from if it is their first time searching for a job?

Opportunities to apply

The government must review that policy of experience and do away with it, so that graduates will be given equal opportunity to thrive without being subjected to many restrictions that make them unqualified for jobs.

Transparency in every recruitment is equally important. Every public vacancy or private vacancy, regardless of its level, should be openly advertised – even a senior executive position or a cleaner’s post at State House.

Every qualified Namibian should have an opportunity to apply, because we do not know how employees at State House got there. We do not know how employees at current and former presidents’ offices got there.

But they are all paid with taxpayers’ money, and people have the right to question it.

Graduates are unemployed not because they lack skills. They are unemployed not because they are lazy. 

They are unemployed because the state has decided not to create jobs and has instead appointed people at retirement age to fill positions that were supposed to be filled by young graduates.

Graduate unemployment has implications for social and economic development. If the government does not employ appropriate mechanisms to minimise graduate unemployment, many skilled people will leave the country to seek employment overseas, thereby developing those countries; crime will increase, leading to financial hardship.

The government has all the resources to transform graduate unemployment from a persistent challenge into an opportunity for national growth and shared prosperity.

*Matheus Hangula is a writer and is currently researching persistent unemployment among graduates in Namibia.