On April 3 and 4, 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria, a training for employment counselors was held, organized by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Employment with the support of GIZ, on sensitization to employer needs.

Following the establishment of 13 new job centres by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Nigeria in recognition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No 88 (1948) on Public Employment Service and towards implementation of its article one (1), the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment through the support of GIZ, brought together forty five (45) job counsellors and employers’ Advisors, drawn from all the job centres of the federation for a capacity building and training workshop on Efficient Employers Outreach for the purposes of improving public Employment services in Nigeria.

The training was developed around the learnings of the SamPES strategy and 2022 thematic Expert training of WAPES on ‘‘What do Employers want from Public Employment Services’’. The objective was to strengthen the capacity of the Job centre staff and improve public employment service in Nigeria through efficient employer outreach.

Through the training, participants learned and understood: the internationally accepted mandate of public employment services (PES);

• the core functions of PES as outlined in the Public Employment Services Convention, 1948 (No. 88);
• who the beneficiaries of PES are, and what services they can expect to receive;
• the current situation in Nigeria compares to the internationally accepted principles of PES;
• How to develop a marketing strategy and plan to reach out to employers;
• Possible approaches to employers and market research
• How to plan and execute an effective outreach
• Steps in the marketing visit;
• the importance of follow-up and how to do it well; and
• The importance of quality service delivery

Towards the end of the training, a community of practice was form through which participants engaged in discussions, raised concerns, shared opinions to effectively apply the knowledge gained into their day to day services/works in their various job centres.

The following recommendations were made:

(i) The need to do a follow up re-training for capacity improvement in order to receive feed backs for same set of participants after a period of three months.
(ii) Sensitization of states labour office and employers on the existence of job centres

At the end of the training, participants were issued certificates and advised to continuously improve on their services through hard work and dedication for effective public employment service delivery. This was followed by a physical tour and walk around and within the FMLE HQ Job centres .

Source; FMLE