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LABOUR MARKET SURVEY

Introduction                                                                                                                                    Labour Market Needs work is in progress to find out in detail what the 'Labour markets Needs'  are in various sectors of the economy. The exercise need much care and takes time. It is also conditioned by the availability of resources.

A certain amount of work has been done with respect to the Informal Sector and Hospitality Industry. These sectors were entered first for the sake of conveniences of the survey team.

Subsequent surveys will cover Manufacturing, Construction, Mining Services, Agriculture (Plantation, small holder, hunting, forestry and logging, fishing, beekiping, poultry and animal Husbandry) Whole sale and Retail Trade and Transport (Surface and Air).

Reports will be posted as and when they are available.

1.  Informal Sector Survey in Tanzania

One of the main functions of VETA as stipulated in the VET Act No.1 of 1994, is to establish a flexible Vocational Education and Training System which is capable of responding quickly to the needs and demands of the Labour Market in both the Formal and Informal sectors of the economy.

In order to map the actual needs of the Labour Market, VETA in 1997, conducted a comprehensive Labour Market survey in the Informal sector. The survey covered Mtwara, Morogoro, Tanga, Kagera, Mwanza, Mara, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tabora, Shinyanga, Singida, Dar es Salaam, Cost and Ruvuma regions. One of the objectives of the survey was to identify the skill requirements and intervention strategies for the Informal sector. It is, important to note that, the sample coverage however, suffices to warrant a national conclusion for the sector in the VETA context.

The concept of the informal sector is mainly used interchangeably with that of the micro-enterprise sector in the urban areas and the non-agricultural activities in the rural areas.  The objectives of the studies were:

  • To gain an overview understanding of existing training activities geared towards the informal sector,

  • To examine the sector’s role for later employment and/or self-employment,

  • To assess the sector’s training needs and capabilities, and

  • To outline possible options for strategy development and interventions to systematically support and enhance respective training provisions.

RECOMMENDATIONS

As a result of the study findings and observations, the following recommendations were therefore made:- 

  • VETA should assume a coordinating role whereby it will also give information and advice to NGOs, Adult     education programmes and all other parties involved in skills training and promotion of the informal sector on all policy matters.

  • VETA in its statutory role of overseeing the development of vocational education and training in the country, using its in-house or external experts should sensitise, mobilise and provide assistance to VET trainees to form production groups of vocational graduates in particular areas and trades. The groups will have better chances to access credit facilities. Read  More >>

2. HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The overall objective of the study was to determine labour market needs for hospitality industry.                           Specifically the study aimed at establishing:-

  • Availability of labour market information necessary for structuring and provision of effective training for hospitality industry.

  • the importance of VET in the hospitality industry

  • appropriateness of the existing curriculum against the labour market needs.

  • the balance between supply and demand of VET needs in the hospitality industry.

  • the linkage between VET providers and employers

Read more about  the report>>

Conclusions                                                                                                                                                   The findings are presented here below in the form of: a) quantitative analysis and b) qualitative analysis.

 Quantitative analysis

The labour market information obtained has reaffirmed the importance of VET in the hospitality industry:

  • Overall, 66.39% of the employees in the hospitality industry are vocational level;

  • If semi skilled employees are also considered, the proportion rises to at least 71.4%;

  • Of the total employees in the hotel industry, vocational employees comprise 65.1% in hotel categories 1-2 and 68.35% in hotel categories 3-4

  • The results indicate the importance of the hotel industry as whole but the small hotels are, overall, the larger employer.

  • Very few vacant positions exist in hotel industry

  • Overall, results of demand analysis suggest a fairly small demand for long courses

  • There is a fairly good balance between supply and demand in the hotel industry.

  • The above observation suggests saturation or very close to saturation in employment

  • The demand is therefore shifting from numbers of trained personnel to quality personnel.

  • The shift suggests a greater need for in-service training.

  • The demand for in-service training will be investigated in future.

  • About 70% utilize less than 30% of their enrolment capacity.

Qualitative analysis

  • The current curriculum does not adequately address needs of the hotel industry both in terms of content and structure.

  • The required curriculum should provide broader basic training at the lower level followed by specialization at higher level.

  • Duration of training should not be dictated by pre-set timeframe rather by content.

  • In accordance with CBET, any set duration should be an indicative framework with considerably flexibility for individualized learning paces

  
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