Federal Govt Establishes Labour Market Information System

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has concluded arrangements to establish Labour Market Information System (LMIS) aimed to address the problem of dearth of labour market information. 

With this development, the federal government can enhance national planning using reliable, timely and robust labour market information to implement education planning, career guidance, enterprise strategies and provide policy and decision-makers with insights into current and future labour market trends.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige while addressing stakeholders at a meeting to strategise the system cooperation framework yesterday in Abuja, stressed that a functioning LMIS would address the problem of paucity of data that the country currently faced and provide solid basis for evidence based planning.

Dr Ngige noted that such system would play important role in informing and guiding policy makers in devising and implementing active labour market policies and strategies aimed at closing the skills gap in the country.

Represented by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Kachollom Daju, Dr Ngige tasked stakeholders to generate comprehensive, reliable and up-to-date labour market information, needed for better collaboration to maximise available resources and a referral system to streamline services for both enterprises and jobseekers.

He stressed that the new system would increase collaboration between employment service providers, industrial associations, trade unions, and employers’ organisations, required for a successful public employment service.

The minister said, “Let me remind you that available labour market information are scattered in different MDAs, trade unions and private sector organisations. Students, researchers, policy makers and other users of labour market information have to either physically travel from one MDA to another or virtually navigate several MDAs’ websites in search of labour market information. The current process of accessing LMI is unwieldy and cumbersome leading to avoidable waste of time and other valuable resources.

It was in a bid to address these challenges that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken the bold initiative to establish the LMIS in collaboration with other stakeholders. This is to bring together all the fragmented labour market information that we have across many Ministries and Agencies into one place, so that it can give tangible results for national policy making. Through this innovative approach, users of LMI will be able to access it through this source – the LMIS”.

Daju said the aim of the system remains to bring stakeholders and institutions involve together in the generation of labour market information in a single platform which will ensure synergy, removing of duplication and facilitate evidence-based decision making.