The 2021 Nigeria Recruiters Survey Report

If like me you believe that unemployment and specifically youth unemployment has negative ripple effect on Nigeria’s future, then you should pay attention to data.

The foundation of my career journey started with one question: Why do people graduate from school and cannot find a Job.

Doing recruitment in the last 5 years has exposed me to some of the nuances about how organizations make hiring decisions.

But In the last 2 years, I took a little step back to spend more time on research by talking to and surveying other recruiters and employers in Nigeria about the difficulties encountered in hiring young people for Jobs, the missing links and everything in between.

Looking at the data from the two separate reports from the survey we published, it keeps luring me to ask further questions and actually spurring my interest into deeper research.

Though the 2021 Nigeria Recruiters Survey report is now available to the public for download (here) but one reality you can take away is that the entire talent ecosystem from higher education to employment is such a disconnected one that requires leadership action.

The more we allow the disconnect to happen, the more it is negatively impacting on the future of young Nigerians.

What are the key findings from the 2021 Nigeria Recruiters Survey?

1. Compared to 2021 report where 58.3% of companies found the recruiting environment very challenging, in 2022, over 68% of organizations experience a huge challenge of shortage of skilled and qualified candidates in recruitment.
   
2. Beyond LinkedIn as a popular tool for Nigerian Recruiters & Employers, in the last one year, Twitter has also gained acceptance as frequently used by Recruiters.
   
3. Technology is on the rise as such, over 50% of the Recruiters we surveyed in Nigeria will be investing in the Applicant Tracking System to optimize their recruiting efforts.
   
4. Flowing from the COVID-19 response to recruitment, over 75% of Recruiters & Employers in Nigeria has adopted a blend of both virtual and physical modes of interviewing for Jobs.
   
5. And finally, based on our work with students in Nigeria, we surveyed Recruiters & Employers in Nigeria to gain insight into the most relevant skills their company will pay more attention from young Nigeria graduates this year, Over 78% agreed that communication skills are still a must-have, followed by people skills and collaboration.

Of course, they are more insights to gain by downloading and reading the full report yourself here, but I would like to end this note by dedicating the report to all Recruiters in Nigeria who is doing the most in the talent ecosystem.

I celebrate you, leaders!

#forthefuture