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FG taps into $900m global microwork job initiative

By on March 11, 2013

The Ministry of Communication Technology will on Monday, March 18, unveil a job creation scheme tagged “Microwork for Job Creation-Naijacloud,” as part of efforts to reduce unemployment and create wealth for youths across the country.

“Microwork for Job Creation in Nigeria” initiative includes two aspects of Paid Crowd sourcing technology: Microwork and e-Lancing.

Paid crowd sourcing is an expanded segment within the new virtual economy with significant job creation potential for skilled (e-Lancing) and semi-skilled workers (Microwork).

The estimated global size of the microwork market ranges between $450 and $900 million annually.

The Ministry, with support from the STEP-B project, under the Ministry of Education will launch “Microwork for Jobs Creation in Nigeria” to address the issues of unemployment, job creation and employability among the nation’s graduates, using information technology.

The primary objective of the project, the organisers say, is to create awareness about work opportunities in the Microwork and e-Lancing space as well as create job opportunities for youths in Nigeria in order to reduce the unemployment rate among our youths in the nation.

The initiative also aims to reduce the country’s brain drain, create business opportunities for potential Nigerian Microwork and e-Lancing Companies, wealth creation opportunities for the young and showcase opportunities for Nigerian businesses to work more efficiently and have a broader Nigerian workers database.

The statement stressed that the Ministry of Communications Technology in line with its mandate to create jobs by taking advantage of fast-growing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria is tapping into the Microwork opportunity in order to reduce youth unemployment, which currently stands at 60per cent level for youths. Industry experts say this is too high for a nation like Nigeria as it is a time bomb waiting to explode.

The Microwork for job creation **naijacloud** is an initiative targeted at unemployed Nigerians using the ICT platform. Unemployed youths with access to phone and internet looking for work or job opportunities are encouraged to take advantage of this initiative.

To drive the initiative, a free workshop provided by internationally acclaimed companies (Crowdflower, Elance, ODesk, Mobileworks and Samasource) will be held simultaneously at the -Digital Bridge Institute, Oshodi, Lagos on March 18 and 19 and Cham’s City, Abuja on the March 18.

This initiative, the statement added, is unique because the participants do not have to be University graduates or any special qualification to attend because the minimum requirement is just basic computer skills.

 

[Daily Independent]