Making digitisation more inclusive for job matching
A pilot study of Text4Jobs Ghana, a mobile-accessible AI-enabled system, addressed labour market inefficiencies, connecting over 500 job positions with 1,300 job seekers in 3 months.
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Lambon-Quayefio et al Policy brief July 2023
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- Job matching inefficiencies in the labour market are known to contribute significantly to the persistent challenge of high youth unemployment in Ghana and most SSA countries.
- While online job websites have been shown to be useful in reducing labour market inefficiencies, the limited access to the internet and low ICT literacy in the SSA contexts do not make such websites inclusive for many of the low-skilled job seekers and job vacancies in micro and small firms.
- This study designed, developed, and piloted a digitised labour market information system, Text4Jobs Ghana – an AI-enabled system designed to be more accessible through the mobile phone USSD code.
- Data from the successful pilot deployment of Text4Jobs Ghana showed that it fills an important gap in helping job seekers and employers find each other. The platform registered over 500 vacant job positions with over 1460 vacancies and over 1,300 job seekers in less than 3 months. Over half of the job seekers who registered were successfully matched to multiple vacant positions and were notified during that period.
- The platform was helpful to less educated people looking for low-skilled positions. Both job seekers and employers reported a positive experience with the platform and found it useful. The majority of them were satisfied with the platform and indicated that they were likely to recommend it to their networks.
- The study is a proof of concept, demonstrating that the power of digital technology can be harnessed to address the issue of matching inefficiencies in a way that does not exclude many potential workers and employers.