The ugly face of unemployment
People working around Golden Peacock Shopping Complex in Lilongwe’s city center woke up with a rude awakening when they found thousands of youth on a queue of over 200 meters to submit their curriculum vitas for consideration for posts which were advertised at Golden Peacock Hotel.
The people who came from locations around Lilongwe said that they were hoping to secure a job at the hotel so that they get out of un employment. The job seekers ranged from Malawi School’s Certificate Examinations (MSCE) graduates and graduates in different fields of professions.
The queue which snaked around the shopping complex run for over 200 meters and stayed like that for a better part of the morning because the people kept coming in although they were only allowed to leave their certificates and CVs and would be called later on for interviews.
One of the people looking for an opportunity, Francesca Phiri said that she was still hopeful that she was going to be picked although there were too many people presenting their papers yet Golden Peacock Hotel was only looking for not more than twenty five employees.
Most of the people who had come heard the news about the vacancy through social media mostly Whats App groups and Facebook posts.
Economic commentator, Henry Kachaje, has described this situation as a testimony of the prevailing high unemployment levels in the country.
According to Labor Force Survey report of 2013, Malawi’s unemployment rate was at 6.6 percent, however, Malawi uses the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) strict definition that assumes that anyone engaged in some economic activity for at least an hour a day is employed. According to Kachaje this definition is likely to give distorted figures of unemployment in Malawi.
Said Kachaje, “The issue of the unemployed youth flocking to the advertised jobs is a testimony of the prevailing high unemployment levels in the country. The situation is getting worse each year as the country continues to register below expectation economic growth rates. There will be no meaningful jobs created unless the economy grows at more than 7 percent annually for at least a decade or more. Unfortunately, in the past 5 years the economy has never registered economic growth above 7 percent, with a record low of 3.1percent last year.”
According to the advert the positions advertised for at the hotel are waiters and waitresses, bartender, cleaners, stewards, security guards, receptionist, food and beverage supervisors and room service.
