Lagos employment survey: over 46,000 jobseekers compete for restricted openings in 2024
Lagos State Employment Belief Fund’s (LSETF) survey reveals that greater than 46,000 jobseekers competed for jobs in Lagos, as of 2024.
The town, generally known as Nigeria’s {economic} heartbeat, is dealing with a tricky labor market with restricted job openings.
A current report, the Lagos {Economic} Improvement Replace (2025), sheds mild on the rising challenges. Launched by the Lagos State Ministry of {Economic} Planning and Price range, the report exhibits a widening hole between the excessive demand for jobs and the few positions out there.
A survey by the LSETF, referenced within the report, examined job vacancies throughout private and non-private sectors from October 2023 to Could 2024. The findings recorded 22,630 job openings, averaging simply 2,837 vacancies monthly, underscoring the mounting stress within the labour market.
Among the many most sought-after professionals had been accountants, managers, ICT specialists, and finance consultants. These fields accounted for almost 61% of all vacancies, with accounting alone registering 4,447 openings.
Nonetheless, demand was lowest within the providers and gross sales industries, the place vacancies solely barely elevated from 157 in October 2023 to 179 in Could 2024. The disparity highlights the rising choice for high-skilled labour throughout the state.
The Honourable Commissioner for {Economic} Planning and Price range, Ope George, emphasised the federal government’s dedication to tackling these challenges.
“Lagos stays the {economic} nerve centre of Nigeria and a hub of innovation, funding, and alternatives inside Africa. Nonetheless, to keep up this management place, we should undertake forward-thinking insurance policies and handle talent gaps that hinder employability,” he mentioned within the report’s foreword.
The report additional identifies finance, ICT, and legislation as industries with rising demand for expert staff. Nonetheless, salaries in these fields proceed to lag behind, making it tough for professionals to earn wages that match the rising value of residing in Lagos.
“The 2025 version builds on previous insights, highlighting important points reminiscent of capital importation, inflation, and macroeconomic outlook. We should bridge income gaps, handle talent shortages, and improve job creation methods to safe an inclusive and sustainable future,” George added.
Wage traits: who earns probably the most?
The survey additionally make clear wage distribution throughout numerous sectors. Administration positions commanded the very best pay, with a mean month-to-month wage of N215,000. Different well-paid sectors, together with ICT, finance, and engineering, provided salaries starting from N100,000 to N200,000.
In distinction, lower-paying fields reminiscent of transport, administration, gross sales, and schooling recorded salaries beneath ₦100,000, elevating considerations about wage disparities within the labour market.
What you need to know in regards to the rise in job postings and wage changes
Some industries noticed vital development in job postings. The authorized career led the pack with a 58.82% enhance, adopted by ICT (38.71%), engineering (25.24%), and finance (25.13%). In the meantime, the well being sector was the one business to document a decline, contracting by 2.71%.
Wage traits adopted an analogous sample, with engineering roles seeing the very best wage development at 100%, adopted by ICT (39%), technician (37.5%), and schooling (31.82%). Notably, accounting and authorized professions recorded no wage changes throughout the interval.
A labor market oversaturated with jobseekers
Whereas job demand is rising, the provision of jobseekers continues to outstrip out there vacancies. Between January 2023 and March 2024, 46,450 jobseekers had been recorded, averaging 3,318 monthly.
Alarmingly, 51% of jobseekers had no {qualifications}, and 42% lacked prior work expertise. Solely 33% possessed each a level and related expertise, whereas 26% had neither, making their probabilities of employment within the formal sector slim.
The gender and employment divide
A better have a look at the employment standing of jobseekers reveals extra challenges. Practically half (46%) had been first-time job seekers, 26% had been employed however searching for higher alternatives, and 28% had been unemployed with prior expertise.
The information additionally confirmed that jobseekers with not less than a secondary college certificates (SSCE) made up 87.9% of the pool. Nonetheless, over 50% should still wrestle to safe expert roles attributable to qualification gaps.
Why jobs had been rejected
The survey recognized a number of the reason why jobseekers flip down job presents. Low remuneration was the most important deterrent, with 60.4% of recent entrants citing poor salaries as their predominant cause for rejection.
Lengthy commuting distances had been one other problem, significantly amongst skilled jobseekers (26%), whereas 14.5% of these searching for different jobs declined presents attributable to job monotony.
Breaking the employment barrier
Past wage considerations, jobseekers additionally face structural limitations to employment. Among the largest challenges embrace insufficient schooling, restricted work expertise, and discriminatory hiring practices primarily based on gender, incapacity, or look.
Specialists advocate focused abilities improvement programmes, vocational coaching, and job placement initiatives as options to those challenges.
The rising demand for ICT, authorized, and engineering abilities signifies the necessity for schooling reforms and workforce planning to make sure Lagos State’s labor market stays aggressive and inclusive.
