From Hand to Mouth: Only 13% of Workers in Ghana Have High-Quality Positions – World Bank

It has been revealed that about 87% of the total workers in Ghana are hanging on to jobs or positions that are just putting “body and soul” together and do not meet their actual needs.

The World Bank reveals that as of 2023, just a paltry 13% of the country’s working population held positions that can be described as high-quality.

This sobering reality was revealed in the World Bank’s 9th Ghana Economic Update, which put the spotlight on Ghana’s labour market challenges and how the country can address the situation.

The World Bank describes high-quality jobs as roles that are either formal wage employment or high-skilled occupations that offer stability, fair compensation, and skills match. Unfortunately, this ideal situation has eluded almost all Ghanaian workers, affecting their standard of living as 87% are engaged in vulnerable, low-productivity work, often in the informal sector, with little social protection.

Part of the causative factors, the World Bank attributes to the current situation where Ghana’s classrooms are producing more educated graduates than ever before, but the country’s labour market is failing to keep pace, leaving the majority of its skilled workforce trapped in low-paying, insecure work.

This disconnect between rising educational attainment and the availability of well-paying jobs has resulted in education or attaining higher education looking less profitable. In other words, there is a decline in the returns to education.

For many graduates, their degrees do not guarantee them a spot in Ghana’s limited pool of formal, well-compensated positions.

“Despite increased educational attainment, only 13 percent of workers held high-quality positions, defined as formal wage or high-skilled jobs, in 2023,” the report noted.

The World Bank further attributes this to labour market segmentation, skill mismatches, and gaps in educational quality, all of which restrict access to high-quality employment.

While the economy is producing jobs, the majority are in sectors like informal trading, low-end services, and subsistence agriculture, where wages are low, benefits are scarce, and job security is minimal.

“The influx of better-educated workers is not matched by growth in high-quality jobs, leading to declining returns to education and heightened competition for limited good jobs. Labor market segmentation, skill mismatches, and gaps in educational quality further restrict access to well-paying employment, leaving much of Ghana’s human capital underutilized and perpetuating widespread vulnerable employment,” the World Bank indicated.

Economists and analysts say this mismatch is more than a personal disappointment for job seekers; it is an economic handicap. When human capital is underutilized, the country loses potential productivity and slows its path to higher living standards.

To address this situation, it is highly recommended that the country align education with market needs through vocational training, internships, and stronger industry–education partnerships.

In addition, there is also the call to expand the formal sector, especially the high-growth, high-productivity areas like health services, digital technology, and modern manufacturing.

Moreover, there is a need to improve job quality in existing sectors by boosting pay, security, and skills development in agriculture, construction, and other mass-employment industries.

The Deputy Minister for Finance, Thoman Ampem Nyarko, has already hinted that the 2026 budget will focus on job creation. It is expected that these jobs are not just numerous, but of high enough quality to match the skills of Ghana’s growing educated class.

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