Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on the SOS Jobs4Women Summit and Virtual Job Fair, to be held on July 24, this year, Dr Ocansey said companies, as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities, must offer soft training to the youth, to get them ready for the job market.

She said a major challenge facing the country was the gap between the skills acquired by graduates in school and how best to package those skills to the job market.  It was, therefore, a major concern for companies because they could not get the right fit of candidates for employment. The Summit would be held in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations,

Dr Ocansey said the SOSJobs4Women initiative was geared at addressing this challenge by providing training on the soft skills needed by women for employment.  These skills include CV and Cover Letter writing, Time Management, Building Integrity and packaging applicants for the job market.  The training would also focus on boosting the confidence of women to get the jobs they want and also encourage volunteerism in prospective employing companies so as to allow the women to learn about the culture of the company.

Dr Ocansey stated that there was the need for a collaborative effort in addressing the problem of Ghanaian workers not being productive, as was pointed out by the President at the May Day celebrations. “We can work with stakeholders to bring about attitudinal change in work,” she said.  The Jobs4Women virtual platform would provide two banks: a national job bank which would allow employers with vacancies to post their vacancies and a Skills bank where prospective candidates who have been vetted and trained by SOS Labour Ghana limited and its partners, could post their skills and apply for the vacancies.

Employers would have access to the skills bank where they could pick candidates and also interview them virtually, if preferred. Dr Ocansey said the platform would provide opportunities for Ghanaian women everywhere, both in Ghana and in the Diaspora, to get access to jobs in or outside Ghana.

He urged the stakeholders, which included representatives from various sectors of industry, to sign up and use the platform. Dr Erieka Bennet, the Head of Mission of the African Union Diaspora African Forum, who are partnering with SOS Labour Ghana on the Jobs4Women initiative by providing training, lauded the project saying it way of addressing how Ghana could be competitive on the global job market.

She urged all stakeholders to take action now to achieve competitiveness saying: “It is not about talk anymore, we have to do something about it.” Mr Akwasi Awua Ababio, the Director of Diasporan Relations at the Office of the President, also lauded the project saying: “Such initiatives are very important in connecting skilled employees with employers.

He noted that through such services, he had worked in many countries in Europe and pledged his support for the initiative.He noted that Ghanaians in the Diaspora could also help to build the nation by bringing back the skills and resources they had gained in the Diaspora to create jobs and invest in Ghana.  He also stated that his Office would work to increase the level of volunteerism in Ghana as it was a means to acquire relevant industry skills and knowledge, which made securing jobs easier.