Low Wage Job in the Nigerian Labour Market: Implications for Policy Formulation and Implementation

Abstract

This paper examines the incidence of low wage jobs in the Nigerian labour market and its implications in terms of policy formulation and implementation. It adopted desk review method in examining the incidence of low-wage jobs in the Nigerian labour market. It relied on secondary data from relevant agencies and institutions that provide information on the state of jobs in labour market such as National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), African Development Bank (AfDB), International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Bank. The secondary data formed the basis for interpretation and analyses. The result from the empirical evidence show that majority (80%) of jobs in the Nigerian labour market are low wage jobs. It also found that in terms of distribution by gender, there is higher percentage (not less than 48%) of women in vulnerable jobs whose wages are quite low in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the paper recommends that labour market regulators should formulate and implement policy aimed at upscaling the skill set of workers in low wage jobs through education, training and re-training of workers in low wage jobs. It was also recommended that Nigerian minimum wage policy should be reviewed by adjusting the rate every year and also targeting the vulnerable workers and maintaining a different rate for the vulnerable workers among others.