Are Banks Taking Advantage of Graduates? Contract Staff Jumps to 43% in Q4 2018

• Are Banks Taking Advantage of Graduates? Contract Staff Jumps to 43% in Q4 2018

The numbers of contract staff within the banking sector continue to rise as many financial institutions now rely on them for their day-to-day operations and as a means to minimize operating cost.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its banking sector report published last week, put the total employees within the sector at 104,669 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

However, out of the total work-force, contract staff constitutes 45,238 or 43.2 per cent. Suggesting that banks are either taking advantage of the high unemployment rate (23.1 per cent) in the country or just cutting cost by offering highly skilled unemployed individuals temporary jobs with minimal pay despite huge profit declaration at the end of every quarter.

This may also be part of the reasons why youths unemployment/underemployment rate is rising, the number jumped from 52.65 per cent in 2017 to 55.4 per cent in 2018. Indicating that new job creation and wage growth remained low among youths, especially new graduates.

Still, the report showed job creation rose by 47 per cent in the banking sector in the last four years, up from 70,960 employees filed in the first quarter of 2014 to 104,669 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Another indication of slow job creation when compared with the rate at which the nation produce fresh graduate yearly. Only 33,709 new jobs were created in the sector in the last four years while the nation produces over 500,000 graduate every year and about 1.8 million enter the labour market annually, according to the former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Experts believe as long as the supply of fresh graduates exceeds demand, firms will continue to take advantage of them in terms of salaries and working conditions. An unemployed graduate or a contractual staff has limited choice, they stated.

The NBS unemployment report stated that 90.1 per cent or 8.77 million of 9.7 million unemployed people filed in the third quarter of 2018 were first-time job seekers.

An unemployed graduate, who spoke with Investors King on Saturday, said most unemployed graduates at a point just want a job – regardless of the conditions attached to it. She further said, “that is what happened when 100,000 graduates applied for 50 job vacancies, the power naturally shift to the employer.”

“Until government formulate policies that will enhance job creation and stimulate growth, labour supply will continue to exceed demand,” she added.