Namibia remains short of skills

CABINET has resolved to urge institutions of higher education to increase the number of graduates with the skills required to meet local labour market demands in several key sectors.

At the last Cabinet meeting on December 9, Ministers looked at the findings of an occupational skills survey conducted in 2006, which revealed that out of 66 786 surveyed employees, 47 437 had no professions, while only 13 386 had professions and were working in the jobs they were trained to do.
The survey findings also revealed that 5 741 employees with professions were working in jobs they were not trained for, indicating a mismatch between occupation and profession.
A press release issued on the Cabinet resolutions said the survey further revealed that about 822 positions were hard to fill due to the unavailability of the required skills or qualifications.
Most of these vacancies were for legislators, senior officials, managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, which require higher education and advanced learning.
About 53,7 per cent of the employees interviewed for the survey indicated there was no particular reason why they were in jobs they were not trained for, while 21 per cent cited oversupply of skills and 0,5 per cent cited non-conducive working conditions.
Cabinet will urge training institutions to increase the number of students prepared to fill positions in the high-demand areas of computer science, engineering and software engineering.
Cabinet resolved to call on all employers, from Government to the private sector and others, to invest more in skills development.
It will further request an additional study to better understand the apparent mismatch between supply and demand for trained workers in key occupational areas.
The Namibia Occupational Skills Assessment Survey was conducted in 2006 to obtain data on skills mismatches, deficits and training needs in Namibia that could be addressed at every level.
The survey focused on the formal sector only and two questionnaires were used – one for employers providing information on the characteristics of their establishments, recruitment processes and skills availability.
The questionnaire for employees focused on their highest educational qualifications, occupation, profession and skills/training needs.