Smart jobs needed to match Smart Rwanda

“Most Rwandan graduates are unemployed because they are selective with jobs,” a director in the Ministry of Labour said on Friday at the launch of the World Bank’s economic update on Rwanda which focused on the need for creation of sufficient jobs for a growing labour force. Three main employment dynamics were highlighted. The numbers are damning, showing a daunting task ahead to match the fast growing labour force. While unemployment is low at around 2 percent, 36 percent of workers are underemployed, working less than 35 hours a week. Experts at the Rwanda World Bank office analyzed trends over the last decade and found that the youth have been at the forefront of a major shift towards non-farm jobs, a discourse that is backed by findings of the 4th Integrated Household Living Survey for 2013/2014. They also found that 60 percent of Rwandans are working several jobs, perhaps in a bid to make ends meet especially in a situation where a salary from one job is not enough to support one’s desired lifestyle; this too is true for I know dozens of people currently doing so. Finally, they found that there has been a relative increase in labour earnings a development the report links to the transition towards better-paying off-farm occupations as well as uptake in additional jobs by individuals. The report notes that only about 70 percent of Rwandans are employed in the agriculture sector; this used to be over 90 percent over a decade ago but the decline is not bad news. First, it is a direct result of the government’s efforts to create 200, 000 off-farm jobs annually. It can also be assumed that the numbers leaving farmlands will create space for more serious producers who can engage in more commercial agriculture to serve the fast growing urban populations; at least this is the thinking at Ministry of Agriculture. Going forward, the World Bank is encouraging government to sustain the ongoing structural transition towards nonfarm jobs; between 2006 and 2011, at least 74 percent of new main jobs created were non-farm but this declined to 49 percent between 2011 and 2014. The formal sector is growing, the report noted, but it is likely to remain small and not large enough to churn out the kind of white collar jobs needed by the young graduates that are being churned out by universities. And that is where the problem is. There is reasonable quantitative evidence that the economy is creating jobs but there is a question regarding quality; no wonder graduates shun them. If someone has to work four jobs to raise enough money to live a respectable lifestyle, then surely there’s a problem on the qualitative end of things. Graduates are often lambasted for their negative attitude towards low end jobs; they are scoffed at for pursuing white collar jobs and rejecting blue collar ones. But let us be fair, they are right in doing so, especially considering today’s cost of living. My first posting after university was a white collar job with a pink-collar job salary; a radio news anchor earning peanuts but with tons of social respect and a celebrity status; I loved the job not because it paid much but because it was fun and with multi-doors to opportunities. If education is marketed as an investment, we should see value in the lifestyle of graduates, that way we can encourage younger parents and their kids to keep the faith in high qualification. We should not hear government officials who are graduates themselves, condemning jobless graduates for being selective; they didn’t go to school to become professional casual workers. Let us hear officials explaining what they are doing to create the kind of jobs that reflect the value of a university graduate; higher education is expensive, the returns should be equally high. But it is okay if a university student voluntarily chose to do a menial job or to start a business, entrepreneurial mindset should be encouraged; as for those who want to pursue a professional career for which they went to school, they must be supported to get placements. I looked down at the city below me, from my office cubicle on the fourth floor. I saw a fast growing Kigali with towering office buildings, glamorous residential apartments and enchanting restaurants; these are expensive amenities befitting a modern city that Kigali has become. But whose city is this? Whose city is it if no graduate can afford Rwf3,000 for a glass of Mango juice at the new Camellia? Whose city is this if a graduate is not earning enough to afford a unit in one of the many modern apartment blocks? Every city is beautiful and fun if its dwellers have healthy wallets. A smart city like Kigali also requires good quality jobs; we can debate on whose role it is to create the smart white collar jobs but what is not debatable is the fact that graduates deserve better.

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Smart jobs needed to match Smart Rwanda