Nigerians face tough job market amid coronavirus outbreak

By Nneka Chile and Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, June 18 (Reuters) - Mary Uzoma had never been
unemployed until March when she was among those laid off by the
transport company she worked for in Nigeria's commercial
capital, Lagos.
For the last year, in her role as a trainer, she travelled
to other Nigerian states to teach motorcycle taxi drivers how to
use the ride-hailing firm's software.
But, following Nigeria's first confirmed case of the new
coronavirus in late February and the announcement of a lockdown
in Lagos from March 30, the company decided to shed staff
fearing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel.
"It's been very hard finding something to do... because most
organisations have gone into virtual work, so nobody wants to
employ new people," said 29-year-old Uzoma.
A government report on the impact of the outbreak said some
39.4 million people - about a third of Nigeria's workforce - may
be unemployed by the end of this year.
The government expects Africa's biggest economy to contract
by 3.4% this year as a result of the pandemic. Nigeria has
reported around 17,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than
400 deaths. Meanwhile, the cost of living has risen steadily. Annual
inflation rose for the ninth straight month in May, to a
two-year high of 12.4%. Hilda Kragha, CEO of Nigerian online jobs portal Jobberman,
said the number of clients searching for work had more than
doubled.
"Typically, we have about 20,000 active job seekers
week-on-week. The past few months it's been up to 50,000," she
said.
Kragha said companies in hospitality, entertainment and
advertising were worst hit.
Uzoma, trying to remain upbeat, said she hoped for a
COVID-19 cure so that "people learn to live with it".
"Organisations are going to be open, back to working full
time, and then try to get people to work for them," she said.