Sam Jones shares results of the school-to-work transition survey at AMECON webinar

Sam Jones, UNU-WIDER Research Fellow, participated in the discussion on employability and COVID-19 at the AMECON (Mozambican Association of Economists) webinar on 24 March 2021. Sharing some of the main findings of a major school-to-work study of the Inclusive growth in Mozambique programme, the main conclusion put forward by the researcher was that the Mozambican labour market is not prepared to absorb its qualified youth.

The AMECON webinar, ‘Employability and COVID-19: Challenges and Perspectives’, touched upon various topics related to the effects of COVID-19 on the Mozambican economy and the local labour market. In his contribution, Sam Jones pointed to the large number of youths entering the labour market each year and the lack of real-time labour market information which would help matching offer with demand. Referring to the results of the recent survey on the school-to-work transition of university graduates  carried out under the Inclusive growth in Mozambique programme, he argued that the local labour market is ill-prepared to absorb qualified young people.

As to the effects COVID-19, Jones referred to recent research which indicates that the pandemic has hit young people in the services and informal sectors the hardest.

When questioned about the channels through which jobs are found, Jones noted that the school-to-work survey point to informal channels (family and friends) being the most important ones. However, he also stressed that online platforms hold important potential in making the local labour markets more transparent, efficient and flexible, in particular during times of COVID-19 – a point that was enthusiastically debated among the participants.

The event also featured other panelists, including Emanuel Meque (CTA), Tiago Coelho (UX) and Domingos Sambo (Ministry of Labour and Social Security, MITSS).