Samson Folarin

The Lagos State Government has asked young graduates to harness the opportunity of the COVID-19 pandemic to restrategise on how to cope with the future of work.

The state Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, said job seekers needed to acquire skills that would make them relevant for the labour market.Arobieke, who insisted that the nature of jobs had changed globally, spoke while addressing participants at an online workshop organised by her ministry.

A statement on Sunday said the workshop was themed, ‘Surviving the times: The future of jobs, the new normal for unemployed graduates.’

According to the commissioner, producing employable graduates with relevant employability skills is important because the labour market is competitive and employers are looking for flexible people with initiatives.

She said such people were also expected to possess the ability to undertake different tasks simultaneously, with little or no supervision.

Arobieke also informed the participants that possessing academic certificates was not enough to get formal employment.

“The current model of education, career planning and job searching need a facelift considering the dynamism in the global labour market. Graduates need to rise and learn new rules of success; this requires being proactive and strategic in thinking,” the commissioner added.One of the resource persons who participated in the workshop, Mrs Damilola James, advised young people to leverage their gifts and talents and become entrepreneurs instead of pursuing white-collar jobs.