On Youth Employment (2/2)

By Fulgence Niyonkuru, Master in Social Administration, Accra

picture source: e.starafrica.com 

When he or she has been taken, an orientation or initiation is organized and all is set. This work of the Human resource manger may not necessarily result into employing additional personnel. (last part) It may be in a form of a human resource development consisting of an upgrading of the knowledge level of employees by furthering one’s studies, extra training or formation to let one be familiar with new concepts or new technology introduced in the system.  Now, our query is to ask ourselves WHO get employed. WHY jobs are created, WHEN does one get a job and HOW does one get employed in my country? TILL WHEN will one be employable?  Before a vacancy is announced, it’s probable that someone is working already.

The saying that “ it’s who you know not what you know that counts” seem becoming an uncontestable axiom since our ethnic identity, or home towns and our lineage replace the curriculum vitae and one is considered on the basis of where he or she comes from, his political affiliation and it would not surprise anyone to find out that in a whole ministry, the personnel has a lot in common, if it is not family ties, come from a same political wing, the same region or the same ethnic group. In such cases, will one need to pass through all we have listed above being the procedure to acquire employment? I suppose not. WHY are jobs created? It may not be due to a lack of an additional hand to maximize production, but most times, to congratulate, thank and recognize efforts one did during a political party’s campaign. Spaces are created to squeeze in those who actively worked for the party and who deserve to be rewarded.

These fellow human beings may not have any idea about what the job performance is all about. Are employed those who have seen the employer before hand for a cash or body exchange to earn favor and grace for an position one wouldn’t have deserved in normal circumstances. In other ways, ministers’ sons and daughters are sent by the state (by non deserving scholarship) to study the hottest courses in famous universities and before they are back, a place has been already reserved for them and it becomes a vicious cycle. What about our local graduates natives of rural Burundi, who might have graduated with high flying colors in our only local university? Him or her, being a civil engineer, he will go to teach KIRUNDI in a remotest corner of the country and will die without, one day, practice what he learnt at school as an engineer. This goes the same way for those graduates coming from western universities and the state fails to allocate them to where they fit best and end up in the street wandering aimlessly jobless simply because their deserving place has been given to the minister’s wife, to the deputy or member of parliament’s son or daughter, sister or brother, cousin and what have you, who has a very minimal knowledge in the field of work or even not at all. Not everyone will know everyone to get a job, not everyone will belong to that party to feel a warm welcome.

Not everyone will be able to “go and come back on Friday”, not everyone will surrender his or body in exchange to the employment. Not everybody comes from that region of the employer or the boss and not all of us are big guys’ siblings or family members or from that political wing or affiliation. Bribe or corruption is not new vocabularies in our mouths, rather a norm and a way of life for many of the employers. Every country has an employment code regulating acquiring a job and hiring an employee. Retirement age is set to let the old ones in the system give a way to new brains to keep the system running with an idea in mind to let fresh minds and innovative knowledge restructure the system. I am not saying it’s not observed or we generally abuse it. I mean, something at times goes wrong in that area and one can prove me wrong when considering university lecturers, medical personnel and many others. I wish I could touch the upgrading process in the police and military sector. I wish I can know how is one promoted and on which basis. I wish I can know how incentives and other employment benefits are shared for the civil servants.

I wish I can know how one happens to get a promotion, be sent for further studies while at work ( Home-leave). Are you a worker already? I would like you to help me do this assignment. What is your qualification? How did you get that job? Who gave you that job? How much are you being paid? How is your pay to your work? To your qualification? For how long are you going to be in that Job? Where are your colleagues of the same qualifications as yours? Are you happy with your work? Why? Before you finish answering these questions, you will find there is something wrong with your employment. Then according to you, what would have been the better way? What has prevented you to be where you belong? How can you be where you suit best? What can you do to be there? When you answer these questions, you may find that, you have no solutions. Then you and I are in trouble and therefore, have a long way to go! 

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