The Government saved a total of GH¢895 million from nationwide payroll monitoring exercise in 2023 and the SSNIT Pension Payroll de-activation of about 19,000 “ghost pensioners.”

The amount saved to government chest consists of GH¢345 million from a nationwide payroll monitoring exercise conducted by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) in 2023 across 120 public sector institutions.

GH¢550 million was saved from SSNIT Payroll Pension de-activation of non-existent pensioners.

Ignatius Barfuor Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, announced this during the Minister’s news briefing in Accra to update the public on development in the employment, labour relations and pensions space.

He highlighted some of the successes chalked in strengthening the management of pension funds, government’s jobs and skills development projects and fraudulent employment schemes.

The Minister expressed government’s unwavering commitment to continuing to improve the welfare of workers while maintaining a peaceful labour front.

He commended all stakeholders in labour for their continuous cooperation and collaboration with the Government in addressing their concerns.

The Minister lauded Parliament, the ministries of Finance, National Security, Education, and Health, and the Ghana Employers’ Association, Organised Labour, and the development partners for their support and cooperation.

“Through our combined efforts, almost all the labour-related issues that threaten industrial peace have been amicably resolved,” he said.

“Government is committed to ensuring that this industrial peace and harmony continues throughout the year as we work together to grow the economy towards sustainable development.”

The Ministry was developing the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS) database to enable the Labour Department to provide quality services to job seekers.

The system, which can be accessed on the worldwide web at www.glmis.gov.gh, was designed to provide the main interface that facilitates interaction between job seekers and employers.

This forms part of activities by the Ministry under the third component of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project being funded by the World Bank to support skills development and job creation.

“The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations is implementing component 3 of the project, which is focused on improving the capacity of the Labour Department for enhanced coordination of the labour market,” he stated.

The platform would provide data on skills in demand and identify gaps for training and development as well as enable employers to make informed decisions on the labour market.

It allows employers to declare existing job vacancies for jobseekers to upload their Curriculum Vitae (CVs) for job matching.

The Minister was optimistic that the GMLIS would reduce job mismatch, unemployment and under-employment as some teething problems in the labour market that government had to tackle.

“Furthermore, as the system generates timely reports regarding the true state of the labour market, government would be in a better position to make policy interventions for maximum impact on the labour market.”

The project would help address the logistical and infrastructural challenges hindering the Labour Department from delivering efficient services.