The Asians are at the Door
In a country where 80 percent of jobs for youth are within the informal sector, as the formal sector has not been a dynamic engine for growth, creating more jobs should be the first among the many government priority lists. Unfortunately, the opposite has been happening in Ethiopia, and many believe that the MEPO plan will be another factor negatively affecting the labour market–creating further job insecurity in an already weak economy. Recent studies by the World Bank estimate urban unemployment rates at around 21 percent, based on the population age 10+. The rates vary in different urban setups. In Addis Ababa, for instance, the unemployment rate is 24 percent. This rate is even higher for woman, at 34 percent.
On a weekday last year, the street along De Gaulle Square, Piassa, was crowded with people. In the centre stood five Chinese men. The crowd was amazed by what they saw and heard. The Chinese men were neither tourists nor artists, but street traders attempting to sell used items.
In broken English, they called the prices aloud, “Thirty Beeer! Twenty Beeeer!” for used umbrellas, raincoats and many other household items. The scene clearly was a tragedy staged in a public place. Only few hundred meters away, police were busy disbanding and arresting local vendors selling second-hand goods and low-quality materials produced in China.
However, as if the economy was in short supply of unskilled labour, government officials did not respond to this market development. Interpreting their silence and indifference as a good opportunity, many more Chinese people began to engage in other service sectors as vendors, chefs, waitresses and technicians. In Ethiopia today, Chinese laborers some of who are allegedly prisoners–increasingly fill these and many other occupations.
Last week, another story with a similar undertone came to the fore. According to the weekly English newspaper, The Reporter, the MIDROC Ethiopia Project Office (MEPO) is planning to recruit approximately 5000 Filipino workers to their construction sites in Ethiopia.
These Filipinos are day labourers, with no special skills that might qualify them above their local rivals. As common to construction work, the majority of the workforce is unskilled. One of the very reasons that governments and policymakers encourage the expansion of this sector is because it can create short term, decent-paying job opportunities for the mass of unskilled force in the market.
Considering the government’s proclamation of an increase in technical and vocational schools throughout the country, the labour market of the nation should certainly be capable of providing any amount of unskilled or even semi-skilled day labourers
However, the trend stands contrary to this claim of semi-skilled labour force creation. Due to the unchecked high population growth rate and a very low job creation capacity, a more unskilled generation is, in fact, entering the market.
In a country where 80 percent of jobs for youth are within the informal sector, as the formal sector has not been a dynamic engine for growth, creating more jobs should be the first among the many government priority lists. Unfortunately, the opposite has been happening in Ethiopia, and many believe that the MEPO plan will be another factor negatively affecting the labour market–creating further job insecurity in an already weak economy.
Recent studies by the World Bank estimate urban unemployment rates at around 21 percent, based on the population age 10+. The rates vary in different urban setups. In Addis Ababa, for instance, the unemployment rate is 24 percent. This rate is even higher for woman, at 34 percent.
In general, excluding the disguised unemployed in the rural area, unemployment in Ethiopia seems to be an urban phenomenon. Particularly, the high growth rate of youth entering the labour market makes the unemployment situation worse. According to research, reducing unemployment in the country today is very difficult as a result of new developments. A rising skill profile of the urban work force, changes in the educational composition of employment (which includes both those who completed Grade Four and those who graduated from Technical and Vocational Education Training schools), an increased level of urban labour supply due to high internal migration and many more characteristics of the labour market present significant obstacles to reducing unemployment.
Despite many constraints on enhancing employment, economists have been advising the government to focus on industries that are highly labour-intensive. Such industries, such as agro-processing, are assumed to help the economy by providing employment to the unskilled and semi-skilled work force both in urban and rural areas.
However, in a country in which the politician’s daily rhetoric plays a dominant role over the expert’s advice, it is not uncommon to see such oddities in everyday life. The intension to recruit 5000 Filipinos is one indicator. The irony is beyond comprehension. Anyone who walks along the road to Gerji can see thousands of unemployed Ethiopians lining up outside the gates of a construction company or site where only three daily labourers are needed. Thousands of youngsters in Wolayita continue to wait by the side of the main road for someone who may or may not come to take them for a job of any kind.
Bringing these 5000 Filipinos into the work force does not only affect the unemployed competing for the same opportunities. It will also affect those who have been working under the MEPO on different construction sites, as the construction industry is very sensitive to marginal labour increases and seasons. Casual workers might be evicted from their positions and forced to face the challenges of the ever-rising cost of living. As these terminated labourers would then increase the general pressure on the labour market in the entire construction industry, sector wage rates may be reduced. This, in turn, will surely affect thousands of labourers and their families.
The government has not yet issued a statement on the issue, and so it remains unclear how they intend to deal with it. Yet we can rest assured that a news story will inevitably be released from the state media: “5000 Filipinos significantly contribute towards the success of the Growth and Transformation Plan.
Ethiopia’s Prime minister and information minister, has the Utopian honor of debunking managing the country’s notorious reputation for hunger and destitution in a digital age. What other African PM/information minister is mounting massive PR campaigns to “rebrand” their country’s image or are constantly pushing back against the foreign media rush to stereotype every Ethiopian as an underweight stick, an alien munching cannibal or an advertising punchline for the NGO’s?
What better idea than to say after the quadruple digit growth rate registered thanks to the sunshine government, we are now entering full time employment, hence the reason we are importing unskilled labor from Asia.
Thanks for a great article as usual.
Honestly the ethiopian labour force is not productive and lacks the despline necssary to effect productivity. I rember during the time of the emperor that some labourers working for the Ethiopian Road Authorities were making every 10 minutes and the labourers looke as if they were dying from the job they were doing. Some laboures in the South of the country came with their best clothes to work. generally ethiopian labourers need to work harder and should think of the productivity rather than the money they will be getting. It is reported some of the laboures work so slowly so that what is meant to be done in a day will be done in 3 days. However importing labourers from other countries is destructive to the ethiopian community. It is better to change the culture indirectly by discplining the work force. Ethiopians in general need to change their attitude to labour and work. For instnce a simple daily labourer gets simpply angery because he was told to work harder. As one observer noted the beggars in Ethiopia walk like lords. They try to get your money as if you stole them. This culture is dis gusting and should be changed. Begging should be prohibited by law, as is the case in many countries.
With all the weaknessses in our culture, we should not allow foreign labour force to be imported. We have to discipline our own labour force.
WELL SAID….
Since the country is not that well equipped with skilled workers, the few skilled workers we have are fleeing to the middle east for better wages…
True the gov’t should be concerned but potential investors should not be expected to wait till the country turns around for TIME SENSITIVE PROJECTS.
Two years ago while i was in Addis, a Chinese guy knocked our door and gave me his number incase WE NEED A DOG SITTER.
An Ethiopian hustler would not come up with that as it may not be a known job in our country…but i was reminded how our people usually wait to be called for a job.
I have seen a Chinese “ZEBEGNA”, and a Chinese cook specialized in our traditional dishes.
I have run to an American Lady who breeds dogs and sell them for a whole lot of cash…u would be surprise how lucrative.
The need for skilled labour in Ethiopia is acute, no one would doubt that. But, the politics of importing such a large number of unskilled foreign workers, especially to a country where more than 80% of the youth is unemployed, not only dumb but it is also looking for trouble.
Training basic construction skills won’t be difficult. But training alone won’t be enough unless you change the culture of the workers. Many Ethiopian workers don’t appreciate the importance of time, and a lot of the workers themselves don’t have a lot of respect to the hard job they do.
Importing foreign labourers might help improve our labour culture.
A hundred skilled and disciplined foreign workers could do the job.
I don’t think that importing foreign labourers will solve the problem of productivity. I think as an Ethiopian we need to look deep in our managerial culture and our way of incentivizing the work force. I am not sure whether you have noticed that when we Ethiopians live outside the country we are willing to do any kind of work and we do it efffectively and efficiently. I was wondering what is the reason that we are motivated so hard outside the country and not in our country? I think the answer lies on our style of management and the incentive we get out of the hard work. As a student I have sudied different ways of motivating your work force and I thought it is very true to apply in our situation.
To effectively motivate, a definite system of incentives or rewards is necessary. Such a system requires a combination of several groups of incentives, the most
important of which are:
1. Recognition-both monetary and nonmonetary.
2. Social prestige.
3. Achievement.
4. Self-esteem
As you can see in our case the most important one at the moment is the first one i.e. recognition – both monetary and non monetary.
The idea is that once the employee is happy with what is paid, the next time all he is interested is with his social prestiage, and then Achievement, and etc.
You may argue that this is more theoretical and it is not work in our case. But to see my point take your own example(if you live Europe or America etc)when you start work for the first time your only concern was just to get money. But at certain level you start not to bother about your money rather you want to get social prestiage etc.
I am sure there are quite a lot of Ethiopian professionals who have a broad knowledge and experience on human resource management and they need to help on this area. I may be wrong, but Ethiopia is the only country where modern education didn’t solve or make better our socities problem. It rather help to make it worse and kill each other.
It is pity that even though we have Msc, PHD,etc, our Knowledge doesn’t change socities problem. Becuase we never ever try to put in practice what we know. We are quick to put in practice socialism or abiyotawi democracy to kill each other but not those things which are noble and useful things.
Ambasel, you are too naive. If you had known you are insulting yourself. Otherwise how on earth would one be able to put all Ethiopians in one pot. For sure, like in the rest of humanity some among us could be not as hard working, but there are million others who are. Why do you think we see so many successful Ethiopians in the free world- such as in the US. It is the system holding up Ethiopians from reaching their best. And, bringing Asians in will not fix this problem; it will only foster xenophobia in the country.
We might as well outsource the federal govt to Japanese. This is a way forward to meet the UN poverty goal. We should sell this idea to the UN anf G20countries. Rather dumping money to enrich dictators and despots. I am serious!! you will see the campaigns for the next G20 meeting.