With the report that manufacturers’ employment rate will fall below benchmark points to 48.8 points in the first quarter of 2023, there are tendencies that more Nigerians stand the risk of losing their jobs.
This report is coming at a time Nigeria is sliding into more economic crisis.
Investors King had reported that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had said that 20 percent of the full-time workforce in Nigeria lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The NBS disclosed this in a study jointly conducted with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) adding that since then, there has been an increase in the unemployment rate, moving from 27 percent to 33 percent between Q2 2020 and Q4 2020.
Coupled with the naira exchange crisis currently ravaging the country and its negative effects on small and medium-scale businesses, Nigerians have been expressing worry that their jobs are in the verge of being lost.
The lastest index report by the Manufacturers CEOs Confidence showed a downward spiral from the 49.2 points obtained in the preceding quarter.
Investors King reports that the Manufacturers CEOs Confidence Index of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is a quarterly research and advocacy publication of the association, which measures changes in the pulse of operators and trends in the manufacturing sector on a quarterly basis.
The report, it was gathered, is in response to movements in the macro-economy and government policies using primary data gotten from direct survey of over 400 chief executive officers of MAN member-companies.
According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2022, Aggregate Index Score of the MCCI reduced to 55.0 points down from 55.4 points recorded in the third quarter of the year.
This revelation is a pointer to manufacturers’ increasing loss of confidence in the economy of Nigeria that is nosediving.
The report disclosed that the fourth quarter of 2022 appeared to be more difficult to manufacturers than the level of hardship experienced in the preceding quarter.
This situation is linked to the continued rise in inflation, high cost of energy, worsening erosion in naira value and difficulty in sourcing forex as well including the harsh effect of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
According to the report, current Employment Condition (rate of employment) and production level in the next three months scored above the 50 benchmark points though with a decline in the period respectively.
It further stated that employment conditions for the next three months fell below the benchmark points to 48.8 points which is also below the 49.2 points obtained in the preceding quarter.
MAN further revealed that the redesign of naira notes, which has negatively affected the economy, would also play a significant role in affecting employment in the first quarter of 2023.
The association noted that the report is robust and realistic, adding that Q1 of every year is usually sluggish and employment decision is hardly completed in the quarter.
In order to control the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been struggling to minimise the cash flow in individual hands, as traders and entrepreneurs groan of low patronage.