Despite being the largest economy and most populated country in Africa, Nigeria has been unable to effectively confront unemployment. It is a predicament that drastically affects not only the job market but also the youthful population; 43 percent of Nigerians are 14 years of age and younger.
There are only a few countries in the world with a higher unemployment rate than Nigeria, which frustrates and forces educated youths to become emigrants in search of greener pastures. According to the World Bank, the number of fully employed Nigerians has been dwindling since 2014, severely petering out the labor market.
In the last decade, unemployment has risen five-fold in Nigeria, and this quandary, in turn, affects recruitment. With unemployment and underemployment standing at 33.3 percent and 22.8 percent, respectively, employers and hiring managers often have to contend with incredibly overwhelming numbers. Thousands apply for a single job posting, though most of them are unqualified and only favor the spray-and-pray approach.
The problem does not end there; because it takes longer to filter through thousands of job applications to find qualified candidates, the average recruitment cycle in Nigeria lasts for up to 6 months. Whereas, somewhere like the United Kingdom, it takes 27 days on average to hire and onboard an employee.
