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The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, on Friday inaugurated the newly constructed Public Employment Centre at Odumasi in the Sunyani West District of Bono Region.
The new facility, which would serve as the Regional office of the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS), is a pivotal initiative introduced by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) in collaboration with the World Bank under the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP).
Designed as an automated decentralised and integrated web-based portal, the GLMIS serves as a comprehensive platform for the collection, processing, evaluation and dissemination of labour market information.
The main objectives of the GLMIS is to address the challenges in the labour market by providing stakeholders, especially job seekers and employers with easy access to reliable and up to date labour market data.
The system aims to bridge the information gap between jobs seekers and employers, leading to better job matching and increased employment opportunities.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr Baffour Awuah explained that the newly constructed Public Employment Centre was one way of positioning the Labour Department in order to enable it to provide quality services to employers, jobseekers and training institutions.
According to him the Public Employment Centres, established by the Labour Act, 2003, provide the public with front line labour market services, including job matching, job placement, counselling, provision and collection of labour market statistics and information, labour inspections, and processing workmen’s compensation issues, among other related services.
Consequently, Ghana he said, currently had 64 existing PECs under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations supervision, operating as district offices of the Labour Department.
“However due to deterioration, many of the existing PECs are currently in deplorable conditions hindering their ability to offer valuable services to job seekers and employers alike,” he added.
The Employment Minister stated that the government in partnership with the World Bank saw the need to refurbish the existing PECs across the country due to its strategic importance in delivering labour market services.
Mr Baffour Awuah further added that the component of these new model PECs have been carefully designed to enhance their functionality and effectiveness.
Each facility will include essential sections like the entrance terrace, reception and waiting area, offices counselling rooms, among others.
The provision of new PECs is expected to play a significant role in improving Ghana’s Labour market system, saying that, “The fully functional centres will not only facilitate job matching and placement services but also serve as primary points of contact for Employment and Labour related matters at the local levels, among others.
The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, on her part said the centre would go a long way to address the menace of irregular migration phenomenon among the youth in the Bono Region
She noted that most young people embarked hazardous journey to Europe through the Sahara Desert in search of better opportunities leading to their unfortunate deaths.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, ODUMASI
