IMPLICATION OF LABOIR MARKET ANALYSIS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigerian labour market has experienced changes in the last two decades following the dictates of globalisation. These changes manifested in the sectoral composition of employment, growth in the service and informal sectors, unemployment and underemployement, increased self-employment, and growth in female labour participation. This paper examined the emerging structural changes in the labour market and their consequences for employment relations in Nigeria. Nigeria has witnessed increased youth unemployment and underemployment, the decline in full-time permanent jobs, rise in casual/contract and part-time work, rise in female labour participation, rise in outsourcing and increase in labour shedding in the last two decades. The observed implications of these developments for employment relations include a decline in union density and bargaining power; a gradual increase in non-union representation; a shift in skill requirement; emphasis on employee loyalty and commitment; emphasis on work-life balance and flexible working hours. The paper, therefore, concludes that structural changes in the Nigerian labour market have affected traditional institutionalised employment relations, which are gradually being replaced by flexible and individualised employment relations.