The Nation Newspaper

Tag: workforce

  • Ekiti varsity to conduct forensic, staff audit of workforce

    Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti has indicated its readiness to conduct holistic audit of the workforce and finances of the institution.

    The institution’s Governing Council said the exercise would afford the institution to know its actual workforce and financial status.

    This, the Governing Council Chairman, Prof. Bamitale Omole, said would be done for administrative, strategic and financial planning, which will make the institution very competitive and give room for efficiency and effectiveness in university’s administration.

    Omole spoke during the council’s 133rd meeting in Ado-Ekiti, noting that the decision was informed by the need to reposition and redefine the institution into a first class university in the intellectual market of 21st century, which is ready to compete with other global university in terms of human capacity development.

    He added that a firm of human resource auditors has been contracted to carry out an audit of the workforce, adding that the work of the auditors would begin in earnest.

    The institution’s governing council has also kick-off the process for the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor.

    Omole said the exercise would be thorough, transparent and devoid of any opaqueness or favoritism.

    He emphasised that merit, competence, capacity and capability to run a university in the global intellectual market of the 21st Century will be the hallmark of the exercise.

    He appealed to the university’s operator to ensure that issues surrounding the process were not subsumed in the framework of fraternities, religion or native identities.

    “In pursuant to the university law guiding the exercise, advertisement for the position of a Vice-Chancellor will run for six weeks in major national newspapers, following which a well-constituted university search party will have two weeks to do its work and thereafter a selection panel will interview candidates for the position,” he said

    He, therefore, enjoined workers to be patient with council and government, saying the welfare of staff, prompt payment of salary and payment of backlog of salaries remain the top priority of the present government.

  • Lagos places high premium on healthy workforce

    The administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode places high premium on a good and healthy workforce, to enable it build a smart and resilient state, the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson Oke, has said.

    Speaking at this year’s participant’s day, organised by the Lagos State Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC), Oke said effective performance by the public service has become important because it is a potential driver of socio-economic growth.

    He said to achieve results, government has continued to place high premium on a healthy workforce.

    Oke who was represented by the Permanent Secretary Civil Service Pensions, Mr Adeola Hundeyin, said a critical requirement for effective service delivery is the physical and mental state of health of its workforce.

    He, therefore, urged workers to develop healthy habits, alongside their intellectual and moral capital.

    He said: “It is imperative for our workforce to develop healthy habits even as much as they acquire more knowledge. Eat well, exercise and avoid any harmful substances.”

    He praised the PSSDC for coming up with the theme: Towards building a sustainable healthier public service, this year, which he said is in tune with the aspiration of the government.

    The PSSDC, established in 1994, has organised over 500 courses for officers on GL 01 to 12 and also for some officers on GL 13 and above through management consultancies, a development which he added, has had positive impact on  the productivity level of the workers over the last 23 years.

    The Permanent Secretary Establishment  & Training, Mrs. Clara Ibirogba,said the health is a sine qua non to the attainment of personal and corporate goals.

    She, therefore, urged participants to take more than a passing interest in their health in order to stay relevant and to be able to achieve their set goals.

  • CPN’s confab focuses on retooling workforce

    How best to retool the national workforce to be IT compliant, among other industry issues, will dominate discussion at the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) IT CEOs roundtable slated for next month in Lagos.

    The forum is part of the eight-point agenda of the President and Chairman-in-Council of CPN, Prof. Charles Uwadia, in his manifesto to become the CPN boss.

    At the forum where Dotun Suleiman, a high profile industry stakeholder will speak,  CPN is expected to have engagement with CEOs of IT industry at all levels, and discuss fiscal policy on empowerment of IT professionals and companies.

    CPN, an agency under the Ministry of Education is empowered to control and supervise the Computing/IT profession in Nigeria.

    Secretary/ Registrar to the Council, Mr. Allwell Achumba, in a  statement, said  the forum was conceived as a gathering of IT CEOs in Nigeria with the objective of discussing and strategising on emergent issues in IT in order to come out with recommendations and decisions that would impact positively on the IT industry, profession and government policies of the nation.

  • Ailing Aero Contractors sacks 60 per cent of workforce

    Ailing Aero Contractors sacks 60 per cent of workforce

    Aero Contractors  Airline, which is under the management of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), has sacked 60 per cent of its workforce.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that letters of redundancy were issued to the affected employees during the week.

    Media Consultant to the airline, Mr Simon Tumba, who confirmed the development in a statement issued on Thursday in Lagos, said the workers would be paid their pension and gratuity.

    Tumba said the airline had been grappling with huge and unrealistic personnel cost as well as other operational challenges worsened by lack of enough aircraft to keep all the workers meaningfully engaged.

    “The issuance of notification of redundancy is a business decision that will ensure Aero’s survival.

    “The current situation where over a thousand people are basically not engaged due to lack of serviceable aircraft is not sustainable for the airline.

    “The huge monthly salary associated with a bloated workforce will eventually kill the airline, which is not the intention of the current government,” he said.

    According to him, Aero Contractors currently has aircraft-to-employee ratio of 1:500, which analysts believe is perhaps the worse in the history of global airline industry.

    Tumba said government’s intervention in Aero was to save it from total collapse therefore, all steps such as this (issuance of redundancy letters) to ensure its survival must be put into consideration to save the airline.

    He said :”This decision will immediately reduce the whooping operational cost, which has been stifling Aero; enable the management bring in more aircraft through savings from overheads and pay for C-checks.

    “It will also enable Aero have a more manageable and committed workforce in line with international best practices of 50 to 60 personnel to one aircraft unlike what obtains in Aero at the moment.”

    He, however, added that those in Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and other essential staff in critical departments would not be affected.

    Tumba said Capt. Ado Sanusi, the Chief Executive Officer of Aero, had also assured the workers that they stand a chance of being recalled as soon as the airline increases the number of aircraft in its fleet in the near future.

    A part of the redundancy letter made available to NAN read:, “Following the operational challenges of Aero culminating in loss of business opportunities that adversely affected company finances vis-à-vis operations, we are constrained to place you under redundancy pending a possible future review.

    “This decision was communicated to the unions where their understanding was solicited in view of prevailing operational difficulties.

    “Whilst Aero appreciates your contribution to the company and continues to regard you as worthy ambassadors, we solicit your understanding as we struggle to stabilise operations and rebuild the company.”

    However, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) , have kicked against the move by the airline.

    Mr Frances Akinjole, General Secretary, ATSSSAN, told NAN that a notification had been sent by the unions to the affected workers not to accept the “purported letter of redundancy “.

    “We are totally against it because in the first place, our members are still being owed salaries and we have not even negotiated the redundancy package.

    “If they go ahead with this move then the unions are prepared to face them headlong,” he said. (NAN)

  • Oyo to restructure 105,000 workforce, says Ajimobi

    Oyo to restructure 105,000 workforce, says Ajimobi

    Oyo State is to restructure its 105,000 workforce and will not retrench as being speculated, Governor Abiola Ajimobi said yesterday.

    Ajimobi, who clarified this in Ibadan, said restructuring of the workforce was aimed at enhancing its productivity.

    He put the workforce at 105,000, saying many workers were unproductive.

    Ajimobi said the restructuring would place each worker where he or she would be more productive.

    “You know we have three types of workers. We have workers, who have the expertise and are ready to work. We have those without expertise, but are ready to learn and work. We also have those who don’t have the expertise and are not ready to work or learn.

    “We want to ensure that every worker has something doing and doing well for government to justify his or her salary. Today, we need to drive our revenue to be self-sufficient,” he said.

    He said restructuring was also reason for the government to strengthen its educational system, because development is knowledge-based.

    Ajimobi said a knowledge-based economy produces development, stressing the need to develop pupils to be able to compete around the globe.

    Quoting a philosopher, Ajimobi said: “If we keep doing same thing all the time, we will continue to have same result.”

    The governor called on the workers to always embrace dialogue, saying the last strike drew the state backward.

    “We told them all that is available to pay salaries, but they did not believe us. They embarked on the strike based on speculations that we were not sincere. Today, we have shown all to them and now they have seen that we are sincere and transparent on all we have told them.

    “I pray that God rewards me based on my action towards the workers. If I lied to them, God will reward me and if I am sincere to them, God should continue to answer their prayers for me,” he said.

    The governor solicited support for the state’s growth in the face of the economic downturn, saying his administration will continue to give its best.

  • Meter manufacturers sack 50% of workforce

    No fewer than 600 workers of meter manufacturers have lost their jobs in the past six months. Reason: lack of patronage in the power sector, The Nation has learnt.

    The firms, under the umbrella of the Electricity Meters Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (EMMAN), resorted to sack because of poor revenue, it was learnt.

    The manufacturers said they couldn’t cope with their overhead costs in view of the prevailing industry challenges, including low patronage of their products by the electricity distribution companies (DisCos), weak exchange rate of the naira to dollar and other foreign currencies.

    A source at one of the local meter manufacturers told The Nation that the meter manufacturers  sacked between 50 and 55 per cent of their workers.

    The source said the meter manufacturing firms, including MOMAS Nigeria Limited, sacked about 220 workers, Unistar Nigeria Limited (100); Mojec Nigeria Limited (100), and Emcon Nigeria Limited (100).

    The Nation learnt that due to low patronage, the firms have been laying off their staff.

    EMMAN’s spokesman Ibrahim Muhideen who, confirmed the staff downsizing, said more workers would go except something was done to address the meter manufacturers’ problems, such as poor patronage to enable them boost their income.

    Muhideen said the companies were operating below capacity, a development, which rendered many of their workers redundant. Describing the development as rather unfortunate, Ibrahim urged the Federal Government to intervene by liberalising the meter market to allow EMMAN members sell to individuals and corporate organisations by the vendors approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    Muhideen said: “The government should liberalise the meter market so that individuals can also buy meters from approved NERC vendors and installers. If the market is liberalised, more electricity consumers will be metered and it will go a long way in addressing problems such as “crazy” and estimated billing system that is currently being battled by consumers.

    He urged the government to allow meter manufacturers sell meters to the consumers because some distribution firms were not willing to give meters to customers.

    The Chief Executive officer, MOMAS Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kola Balogun, also said his firm retrenched over 200 workers, which according to him represents over 50 per cent of the workforce.

    He said the wage bill is high, and that the firm cannot afford to continue to pay salaries, stressing that more people would lose their jobs across board,if the situation does not  improve.

    “Despite the fact that our production lines have been improved to meet international standards, coupled with the high quality meters we produce, the electricity distribution companies don’t patronise us. Only Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and Port Harcourt Distribution Company (PHDC) buy from us. But that is not enough. Thousands of meters are in the store because there is no patronage,” Balogun added.

    He urged the government to create a five per cent special fund for meter manufacturers to aid their operations and enable them sell their products at competitive price.

  • Shell links workforce reduction to BG’s acquisition

    Shell links workforce reduction to BG’s acquisition

    The Royal-Dutch Shell has linked the planned reduction of its group workforce to the recent acquisition of the BG Group, and its earlier strategies to reduce cost and focus on more core businesses.

    Spokesman of Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC), Precious Okolobo in an emailed response, said: “Our integration with BG provides an opportunity to accelerate our performance in this ‘lower for longer’ environment. We need to reduce our cost base, improve production efficiency and have an organisation that best fits our combined portfolio and business plans. As a result, we will reduce the size of the organisation supporting our UK and Ireland Upstream business by around 475 people. We will look to implement the majority of this change during 2016.

    “Following these changes, Shell will still remain a key employer in the North East of Scotland with around 1,700 employees. The reductions announced in Aberdeen are part of a global programme of job reductions in Shell. Last year, in response to the oil price downturn, we made the tough but necessary decision to remove 7,500 Shell staff and direct contractor roles and this has now been completed. Separately, as previously announced, a further 2,800 global staff reductions were initially identified as part of the BG integration, which is now well underway.”

  • Okonjo-Iweala: skilled workforce to drive Vision 20:2020

    Nigeria needs skilled workforce to stimulate the economy to achieve the Federal Government’s Vision 20:2020 Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.

    Speaking in Lagos during a three-day orientation for interns under the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), supporting the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) project, she said such feat would make the country become among the biggest 20 economies in the world by 2020.

    Okonjo-Iweala, who was represented by Project Director of GIS, Peter Papka, said the agency was established by the Ministry of Finance as part of the SURE-P, and is expected to prepare young job seekers between 18 and 40 years, for the work environment before they are employed.

    Papka said Okonjo-Iweala, would by month-end, hold meetings with International Oil Companies (IOCs), banks, telecoms operators and other leading private sector businesses on how to galvanise the economy through job creation. He said similar meeting would be held with Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), which have capacity to create over 40 per cent of Nigeria’s job requirment.

    Aremu O., also from the Finance Ministry, explained that the GIS provides graduates with quality temporary work experience to make them stronger candidates for job openings in the labour market.

    Such experience, he said, would also boost their chances of becoming self-employed. “The scheme will improve job placement opportunities for graduates by providing them with the opportunity to acquire professional skills, training, and work experience through a one-year internship placement,” he said.

    He said though the exercise is a short-term measure, GIS has high prospects for job creation, improve the welfare of youths and achieve the inclusive growth objective of Federal Government’s transformation agenda.

    He said during the period of internship, the Federal Government will be responsible for paying a monthly stipend to the interns while the participating institutions/firms would be expected to provide adequate opportunities for training and mentoring the interns.

    He said the GIS is targeting up to 50,000 graduate interns yearly. He said the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) is based in the Federal Ministry of Finance and is responsible for administration and management of the GIS.

    “The process of selection is not competitive, as the Federal PIU would like to give an opportunity to all private/public firms to take part in this national intervention,” he said. He said the orientation exercise is aimed at preparing hired interns for the working environment and skills acquisition. Such, he said, would also guide partnering firms and interns on the GIS, especially on their roles and responsibilities.

    The GIS, which started in 2012 to create opportunity for graduates to be attached to organisations, where they can work for a year and enjoy a monthly stipend of N18,000. Such interns can use the opportunity to gain working experience and enhance their employability. The project has started registration of such firms and over 83,000 beneficiaries have been registered. This is beyond the threshold of 50,000 allotted for the scheme in a year. Deployment of such beneficiaries has commenced,” he said.

    GIS Communications Adviser, Mrs. Mary Ikoku, said companies searching for the right employees to fill vacant positions always ask for four or five years experience but many of the graduates do not have such experiences because they never worked before. However, by training these interns, they are able to get the required experience to confidently secure their dream jobs in the market.

    She said the GIS, remains a sub-component of SURE-P, targeted at delivering employment opportunities for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed graduates. He said participants must be graduates that have finished their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) or obtained their certificate of exemption before they can participate. She regretted that some of Nigeria’s graduates are not employable, but these trainings would sharpen their skills. She said participants must be between 18 and 40 years. She said SURE-P is investing in critical infrastructure, Information Technology, social safety nets, oil and gas among others. She said the over time, refineries can be built through the scheme.

    Director, After School Graduate Development (ASGD), Funmi Adeyemi, one of the facilitators, said the interns were being trained to support and add value to the organisations where they work.

    She advised the interns to build self- confidence and develop the needed skills that will enable them to secure the right jobs when the opportunities arose.

    Over 83,000 beneficiaries have been registered, which is beyond the 50,000 allotted for the scheme in a year. She advised the youth on the need to be efficient, competent and team players as such skills will enable them to fit into the organisations where they work.