The Nation’s Builders Corps (NABCO) is ending in October 2021 with government’s exit plans uncertain for permanent jobs. Though the government had made it publicly known to provide them permanent job opportunities, there has not been timelines. The transition into permanent jobs was promised a year and a half ago but there has not been enough details, with only two months left for the trainees to exit.
The government is broke with high public debt and wage bill. It’s unclear if the government could employ all the 73,000 trainees as the total remained recruits in the program as claimed by the authorities.
It’s also imperative to ensure none of these recruits are left unemployed because looking at the training models, no NABCO trainee can start his/her own business after exiting from the program.
This is the appropriate time to engage the private sector to absorb all the recruits. The goal-driven employment intervention program should be the best opportunity to test the capacity of the private sector on job opportunities and entry rate.
Recruiting the trainees into the private sector for permanent jobs should come with job security, a year or two tax holidays on some selected tax components of the businesses. This should be as flexible as possible to encourage employment into private businesses to ease the burden on government.
It will be the first mass employment into the private sector with arrangements for flexible labour law compliance. With the already commissioned and ongoing commissioning of 1-District-1-Factory projects, certain recruitment positions could be set aside for the “NABCOrians”. This should be done easily during the negotiation stages of placing factories under the 1D1F.
As these recruits are employed they will pay taxes to the government and can be used to sustain the NABCO for future recruits. This is important to ensure the quality of the program and avoid delays in payment of stipends in future.
Looking at the myriad of challenges on the economy, their transition for permanent jobs into the public sector may delay and near impossible for a majority of the recruits. The disappointment would be huge if they are not employed and could lead to serious trust issues of the program.
Finally, ensure the dignity of the employment opportunities. Remember they are graduates and may not settle for anything less. Employment should be done on merits and based on skill. It’s therefore important to engage the Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI), the service sector and other business associations to discuss recruitment thresholds for the NABCOrians so they could also feed their families and contribute to national development. It’s a good step to enhance the expansion of the private sector for economic growth.
Peter Bismark
ILAPI
