The Ghana Labour Market Information System - Online Portal still underway
Since 2012, the erstwhile Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, now the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), commenced the development of the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS).
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The completion and commissioning of the GLMIS project became a priority project of the ministry, since it was evident over the years that there was the need to provide reliable, timely and regular labour market data and information on the status and dynamics of employment in the country. The lack of accurate data also made it difficult for decision making and national development planning purposes.
Thus, the development of the GLMIS was to transition from the reliance on scanty and scattered data and information which was compiled manually to the creation of a digital information technology-driven Labour Market Information System that will guide decision making for government, businesses, academics, skills institutions and individuals.
The GLMIS is also expected to reduce the frustrations of the cost of job search for both workers and employers, thereby improving information flow between the labour demand and supply regarding available jobs and skills needed.
The GLMIS will further be useful to the youth and young graduates seeking to make important decisions regarding training and/or employment, mid-career workers seeking new employment opportunities and business owners considering to engage new skills for the expansion of their business enterprises, among others.
Accomplishments
As part of the process, several activities have been achieved towards establishing the GLMIS. Among the accomplishments of the ministry include: the preparation and submission of the Conceptual Framework by a Consultant; a Management Information System (MIS) Expert determination of logistics and procurement of equipment required for the GLMIS and development of the GLMIS Application Software; the establishment of a National Steering Committee and Technical Sub-Committee.
The membership of both committees is Tripartite in character with representatives from the government (Departments and Agencies), Ghana Employers’ Association and Organised Labour.
In November 2016, the jobs-matching component of the GLMIS was launched and is currently functional. The portal is designed to connect job seekers to employment vacancies in the public and private sectors of the economy. It serves as a platform on which requisite information on employers, job seekers, training institutions and academics can be accessed.
There is also a job advertisement portal for employers and other advertisers, labour and employment advice and a portal where feedback could be posted by the public and users.
Currently, the sector Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Member of Parliament, (MP) and management of the ministry have been working assiduously to have the long-awaited GLMIS fully rolled out and operationalised by the end of 2017.
A series of training workshops have been organised for (100) key officials to facilitate the full implementation of the GLMIS. Notably selected officers from the MELR, the Regional, District and Public Employment Centres (PECs), as well as representatives from the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS), have been adequately trained on how to manage their respective components of the GLMIS.
The MIS expert is also incorporating the inputs made by the officers trained on the system that has been developed with the view to making the system functional, more robust and user-friendly.
Currently, the National Information and Technology Agency (NITA) is connecting the 10 regional offices of the Labour Department and the Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) to the national internet backbone to enable the regions to use the GLMIS Application software. NITA is the host of the GLMIS for the ministry with the domain name of www.glmis.gov.gh.
It is anticipated that the entire activity to install, configure and operationalise the GLMIS will be completed by December 31, 2017.
It is important to note that authorities have expressed satisfaction with the progress being made towards the goal of providing a labour market information system through the use of information technology which will eventually become a reality.
To this end, we encourage all to be in high expectation because the GLMIS On- Line Portal, which has been on the drawing board all these years, is still underway and will soon become a reality.
— The writer is a Staff of ISD & PRO for the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.