As young Nigerians continue to migrate to foreign countries in droves, lately, there has been a huge number of resignations across different job sectors in the country.
This has led to so many vacant positions in different companies across the country, with very few qualified people to fill such positions.
According to findings from a survey of job listings from recruitment websites, it was discovered that few Nigerian banks, such as; Access Bank, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Polaris Bank have all reduced the minimum eligibility criteria for their 2022 graduate trainee programmes to a second-class lower grade (2.2) from the usual second-upper class (2.1) and first class grades that used to be the criteria from job-seekers.
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Recall “The Great Resignation,” also known as “The Big Quit and Great Reshuffle”, an economic trend that happened in early 2021, in which employees voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, seems to be playing out in Africa’s biggest economy.
A large percentage of HR managers across the country revealed that they have processed a number of resignations in the past one month, most of which are due to studies and relocation.
Some of these professionals and experts however disclose that this latest trend, on the flip side, has little positive impact for Africa’s biggest economy, as most banks and firms in the country are trying to expand their recruitment net, which will help reduce youth unemployment that is at an all-time high of 33.3%.
A Director of Transquisite Consulting, Jennifer Oyelade while commenting on the recent employment criteria by some firms in Nigeria, said;
“They have realised that they can’t keep judging applicants based on theory alone, if they have never assessed their competency.
“So, they are throwing their net wider to attract the overlooked talent in a bid to find the underdogs who can lead the flock”.
Also commenting on this is Oludayo Sokunbi, Chief Executive officer at Japa Consults, who stated that some of these banks had to reduce their employment criteria because those with first class and upper class grades have higher chances of getting scholarships abroad than those with lower class.
In her words;
“Those with lower class have a higher rate of retention because they have fewer chances of getting scholarships,” Sokunbi said. He added that companies have discovered that grades do not define a person as long as you are open to learning.
“They have discovered that people with lower grades can adapt to work and are more versatile since some of them may have been involved in school activities which may affect their chances of getting better grades”.
Few other professionals have also stated that this current surge in migration has led to a scarce talent gap, which is putting organisations on edge, for them to begin to consider second class lower students in their recruitment process.
Meanwhile, a surge in migration of Nigerians has majorly been due to the myriad of problems that have ravaged the country. Nigeria is currently ravaged by a number of socio-economic issues, some of which include; insecurity, high cost of goods and services, corruption, unemployment, etc.
This is coupled with the industrial strike action by the Academic Staff Union of University lecturers which is heading to a year that has frustrated a large percentage of Nigerian university students.
This has continued to force these students to move out of the country in droves. Data from the British government revealed that the number of Nigerians granted student visas increased by 222.8 percent to 65,929, the highest in four years in June 2022 from 20,427 in the same period of 2021.
On the flip side, whilst this Great Resignation could pose a serious challenge for some organizations in the country, it could also mean that employees at the low-level rank in the company will receive promotion opportunities in order to fill the vacant positions.
Companies will also place value on their employees going forward, which could attract pay rise in order to retain them from migrating.
This could also be an opportunity for unemployed Nigerians to get a shot at being employed which could reduce the unemployment rate in the country.