Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wireko Brobbey, has disclosed that government has given the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) a facelift since it took over from the previous government.

According to him, unemployment has been a bane to most youth in the country and successive governments have used it as leverage “in their quest for power”.

Mr Wireko-Brobbey explained that the youth are made to believe their job problems will be solved “when they vote us into power”. That notwithstanding, he assured the youth of government creating avenues for them to gain employment.

“Since this government came into power, we’ve given a facelift to YEA. YEA has developed the job center which we’ve been talking about. They’ve also developed the artisanal directory, the work abroad program and negotiated a number of regional flagship programs in addition to the traditional youth employment modules. At a time when businesses are recovering from the economic impact of COVID-19 and are looking to revamp their operations, it is important to ensure that employers are able to find the job seekers with the right mix of skills and attitudes to support the revamping of the industry.

“Many at times, their hope keeps dying out and the consequences for the ruling government is obvious. Conscious of this, we will all the time ensure that we work with employers to ensure that we give jobs to our youth”.
Mr Bright Wireko-Brobbey

Transitions of employment programs

Speaking at the ongoing YEA job fair, Mr Wireko-Brobbey commended government for its role in ensuring the success of the program. Additionally, he urged stakeholders and employees to take advantage of the opportunity presented in gaining employment.

“You’ll recall that under President Kuffuor’s regime, was when this initiative [started]. At the time, it was called the national youth employment program. [And] it was because we were faced with a very high unemployment situation which we had to do something about immediately. Along the value chain, the NYEP became GYEDA and in 2015… we had an Act that ushered in the YEA.

“This job fair, which is the first of many more to come, is therefore a job matching platform envisioned to facilitate efforts by employers and jobseekers to find each other”.
Mr Bright Wireko-Brobbey

Employers urged to take advantage of YEA program

On her part, Deputy CEO in charge of finance and operations at the YEA, Lydia Atiemo, revealed that the concerns of teeming unemployment in the country will be addressed.

She further revealed that government’s relationship with employers is to navigate ways in taking the job center “to the next level”.

Madam Atiemo futher underscored the relevance of the youth and employers in the job search activities. By this, she urged employers to be receptive to jobseekers by sharing various corporate cultures and “how they can be part of your cultures”.

“The unemployment situation in Ghana and Africa is one that is entrenching and it’s getting deeper and deeper. The sooner that all stakeholders come to the table for us to find an effective and sustainable solution, the better for our continent as a whole. To the employers… we would love to see the energy that you’ll bring into the room”.
Lydia Atiemo