More Pressure On Economy As Online Job Application Declines Over 46%

The fourth quarter online recruitment report released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the number of applications fell sharply over the period, from 318,233 in October to 170,453 in December, representing a decline of 46.44 percent. The number of vacancies also fell sharply in December to 2,563, a decline of 44.52 percent this is despite the appreciable increase experienced between October and November, 4,620 and 4,696 respectively.
The report, a collaborative effort between NBS and Jobberman Recruitment, is a periodically published information on online recruitment activities in Nigeria.
According to a statement from NBS, “The main object of this collaboration is to provide policy makers, researchers and the general public with as much relevant and timely information, which is needed to proffer solutions to the current employment challenges in the country.”
The largest number of applications was made and posted each month to the industry of trade and services. The industry accounted for 36.02 percent of applications over the three month period.
“In October, the industry received 119,900 or 37.68 percent of applications, more than three times as many as Consulting which received the second largest share. However by December this figure has fallen to 33.08%, due to a fall of 63,513 in the number of applications. This represents a fall of 52.97 percent, and accounts for 42.98 percent of the total fall,” said NBS.
There was a modest drop of 37.11 percent in the Consulting industry that accounts for 12.13 percent. The fall represents an 8.50 percent of the total decline. The ICT and telecommunications industry which received 5.91 percent of applications over the period is in the third position. However applications to the industry fell by 51.13 percent between October and November, slightly more than average.
The number of active applicants slightly increased from 142,369 in the current period to 150,599 at the time of the previous Online Recruitment Report. Lagos State accounted for 79,399 or 52.72 percent of the location of the active applicants making it the largest. Abuja was the location of 14,648 applicants or 9.73 percent, accounting for the second largest share. 4.96 percent of the applicants were based outside Nigeria.
Yobe and Jigawa accounted for the least number of applicants with 82 and 87 respectively. Together they represented 0.05 percent and 0.06 percent respectively.
Out of 101,227 applicants, 59.86 percent were between the ages of 20 and 29 “making this by far the most common age group for applicants to fall under. Very few applicants were below the age of 20, possibly a sign of the relatively high education level of applicants,” NBS noted.
65.07 percent out of 150,498 active applicants had a degree, and a further 11.52 percent had higher degrees ranging from MBBS, MBA/MSc or MPHIL/Phd. Those with Higher National Diplomas represented 15.34 percent. Essentially, 90 percent of applicants were educated above secondary school levels. Only 1.17 percent applied listed S.S.C.E as their highest educational achievement.
“Examining the level of education within each age group reveals that older applicants are more likely to be educated to degree level or higher. Only 2.4 percent of applicants under 20 years of age were educated to above degree level, perhaps unsurprising given the length of time it takes to obtain this level of education. For applicants above 50 years old this figure rises to 45.2 percent; nearly half of applicants within this age bracket have a higher qualification than a degree,” said NBS.
The number of vacancies posted on the Jobberman website saw a slight increase in both October and November, by 4.41 percent and 1.55 percent respectively to reach a peak of 4,696, before dropping by 45.42 percent in December when there were 2,563 vacancies.
55.15 percent of the vacancies advertised require less than three years experience. Additionally, the proportion of jobs listed as ‘Entry Level’ was also significantly lower with only19.92 percent in the period under review. The change was largely a result of a shift in the level of experience asked for within Trade and Services industry.