Jobberman, the single largest job placement website in sub-Saharan Africa, has released figures today showing a 183 percent increase in new job listings in Nigeria for April 2020. The increase in job listings was driven by the #UnityInAdversity campaign, which enabled companies to post job listings and access Jobberman’s database of over 2.2 million professionals across Nigeria for free, as a show of support for businesses and individuals looking for new opportunities due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning of March, Jobberman Nigeria saw a 70 percent decrease in job listings due to the reduced economic activity caused by the enforced lockdown and many companies shutting down recruitment budgets to cut costs. Jobseeker sign ups also decreased by 17 percent. Jobberman took the bold step to put employers’ and jobseekers’ needs first, despite the trade off in revenue, making it easier for them to connect to new opportunities. This campaign will run until the end of June 2020.
Jobberman’s data also revealed the overall number of new opportunities in April to be more than the first quarter of 2020 combined; with almost a fifth of listings for positions in the tech sector. In terms of industries, technology had most of the new jobs with 18.79 percent, followed by banking, finance and insurance with 9.27 percent and education and training with 6.78 percent. IT & Software (11.69 percent) job functions were only second to Sales (13.32 percent) in terms of job functions with the newest roles. When compared to April 2019, there were almost three times as many new job listings, which is encouraging, given the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the jobs market. Jobseeker sign ups also increased in April by 39 percent.
Along with the #UnityinAdversity campaign and to support its commitment to alleviating unemployment in Nigeria, Jobberman has launched a free soft skills training programme that will help job seekers close this gap between their skills and employers’ requirements, as well as enhance their chances of success in gaining employment. Applications for the course are currently open to all Nigerians between the age of 18-30, and the programme will cover key areas such as emotional intelligence, business etiquette, time management, job search strategies, salary negotiation among others.
According to Hilda Kragha, CEO of Jobberman Nigeria, “The COVID-19 pandemic has made the process of connecting talent to opportunities more complicated and we are fully aware of the strain businesses and individuals in Nigeria are facing. We plan to be here for the next 10 years so making this small sacrifice to help our users navigate these difficult times is something that we think is definitely worth doing”.
Kragha also added that “it is great to see that there are still some job opportunities despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There will be a lot of competition for these roles, however, and only the candidates that set themselves apart will be best placed to take advantage of these opportunities. We have found that soft skills such as emotional intelligence, business etiquette, time management, which are often overlooked and underestimated in Nigeria, can make a big difference. We know the power of soft skills and we are committed to empowering individuals with the training and soft skills they need to succeed in the workplace”
With over a decade in the recruitment business, Jobberman has identified soft skills as a viable asset to an employee and job seeker, especially for young people transitioning into the workplace. Jobberman is the only online platform offering soft skills training for free and it is aiming to empower individuals across Nigeria with the training and soft skills they need to succeed.
The soft skills training programme is free for all young people in Nigeria and will be running indefinitely. You can sign up here: https://www.jobberman.com/softskills.
