Ghana Launches Nationwide Survey on Employment Skills Mismatches

Ghana's Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment (MLJE), in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), is launching a nationwide Qualifications and Skills Mismatches Survey (QSMS) starting June 2025 to assess how well workers’ qualifications and skills align with job requirements across both formal and informal sectors. This survey aims to generate comprehensive data to inform policy decisions and education reforms, addressing longstanding concerns about the disconnect between academic training and labor market needs, with findings expected to help revamp curricula and improve employability. The survey will be Ghana's first nationally representative effort to measure qualification and skills mismatches and support evidence-based policymaking to reduce underemployment and labor underutilization. Meanwhile, in Barbados, workforce expert Professor Dwayne Devonish has emphasized the urgent need for a labor demand survey to identify vacant jobs and skill shortages, warning that without such data, the country risks ongoing mismatches between graduate skills and employer needs, which may lead to brain drain and underemployment. Devonish recommends that Barbados adopt routine labor demand assessments to better align education, immigration, and workforce policies, highlighting the importance of evidence-based strategies to achieve economic diversification and reduce tensions caused by perceptions of expatriates dominating high-paying jobs. These initiatives reflect a growing global trend toward using detailed labor market data to address skill gaps and mismatches that hinder economic growth and workforce development.