International Labour Organization Request for Proposal : Rapid Assessment of Labour Market Trends and Opportunities in Ethiopia

International Labour Organization Request for Proposal : Rapid Assessment of Labour Market Trends and Opportunities in Ethiopia

Closing date: 12 Jul 2019

Background

Ethiopia has become a hub for outward and inward migration, as one of the major labour sending countries and the largest refugee hosting country in Africa.

The Ethiopian economy as well as its population has shown steady growth. However, the economic growth has not been job rich.

The challenge of absorbing an increasing number of Ethiopians in the job market is taking an amplified prominence, with up to 3 million young Ethiopians joining the labour market every year.

With the perceived limited economic opportunities within their localities and the low labor absorption capacity in the local economies, most young Ethiopians have been trekking to overseas countries to eke a living.

Accordingly, Ethiopia has become one of the major countries of origin for Migrant domestic workers (MDWs) to the GCC States and Lebanon, and their numbers have greatly increased in recent years.

According to data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), around 460,000 Ethiopians have regularly migrated for employment to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States.

The administrative records from MoLSA show that the large majority of regular migrants (close to 86 percent) are women.

The high number of female migrants in official statistics is mainly due to the greater opportunities they have for regular labour migration (mainly into domestic work) to the GCC States, Lebanon and Sudan, while male migrants tend to resort to irregular means due to lack of opportunity for regular labour migration.

The RMMS (2014) study on knowledge, attitude and practice of Ethiopian migrants also shows that only 40 percent of Ethiopian migrate with legal documents to GCC States, Lebanon and Sudan, illustrating a relatively high level of irregular migration.

To combat irregular migration from Ethiopia by improving the labour migration governance in the country, the ILO is implementing a project entitled “Improved labour migration governance to protect migrant workers and combat irregular migration in Ethiopia” funded by United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.

Through this project the ILO is supporting the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and its partners to address irregular migration and protection risks faced by migrants in countries of origin and destination.

While migration for overseas employment continues to experience a steady growth, there is a need to improve the employability of Ethiopian workers by enhancing their technical and vocational skills in order to foster regular migration, enhance access to decent employment and sustain the demand and supply of Ethiopian workers.

This requires an effective labour market information system which facilitates the possibility of matching the demand for migrant workers and occupation with the skills of the workers.

In this context, the ILO Country Office for Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, through the DFID funded project, is seeking to hire a consulting firm to undertake an assessment on possible labour market opportunities for Ethiopian workers in Ethiopia as well as different labour receiving countries as part of the government’s effort to diversify sectors and countries for Ethiopian migrant workers.

Objective

The overall objective of this study is to assess the potential and relevance of key economic sectors, sub-sectors and occupations for Ethiopian labour force in Ethiopia

and selected destination countries; to determine how skills development initiatives can be framed and improved in order to better meet labour market demand and economic opportunities in Ethiopia and key destination countries and to identify underlying constraints in the market, including legal barriers to migration, and identify potential sectoral interventions and make strategic recommendations.

The assessment is expected to suggest recommendation at policy, strategy and intervention levels to harness the benefits of migration for the overall benefit of the country.

Expected Results

The study is expected to inform the Government and relevant actors in Ethiopia for evidence based policy making and programme implementation especially in regards to the demand and supply of the labour market in the country as well as major labour receiving countries.

It will further guide the government of Ethiopia and other relevant stakeholders to better align the current systems for facilitating and supporting low, semi-skilled and skilled male and female migrant workers in selected sectors to access overseas employment opportunities.

The findings can further guide students, and new entrants to the labour market, on likely labour-demand, skills needs, the effect of labour policies, and available systems for accessing overseas employment.

Deliverables

Inception report

A copy of the full dataset (in Stata, SPSS or other system).

Draft report

Final report

Qualification and Competencies

The lead researcher/team leader is to have a post-graduate degree in Labour market statistics, or a related field such as Development Studies or Economics, with a minimum of ten (10) years of demonstrated experience in conducting and managing multi-country research particularly in the field of labour, employment and labour market assessments;

Have extensive theoretical and practical experience on the international labour market and employment assessment and related methodologies and tools;

Have extensive experience of the Ethiopian labour market, Ethiopian statistical and administrative sources, and a track record of publications on its analysis, including on education and training development issues;

Excellent drafting skills, ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, ability to clarify information, excellent computer application skills, excellent organizational skills;

Skilled and experienced in academic and research;

Excellent conceptual and analytical skills;

Strong quantitative data entry and analysis skills and previous experience using statistical analysis software;

Have proven knowledge of the UN in general and the ILO in particular and their objectives;

Preferably based in one of the major labour receiving countries or have active affiliates/networks in major destination countries; and

Have previous experience in conducting similar assessment.

Duration

The duration of the consultancy is 70 working days after the signing of the agreement between the two parties.

How to Apply:
Interested applicants should request the detailed Request for Proposal (other than this advertisement) by emailing to addis_procurement@ilo.org until 01 July 2019.

Those who do not request for the Request for Proposal before the deadline, will not be eligible to participate in the bid.

Interested applicants must submit their financial and technical proposals (including all documents required in the detailed Request for Proposal) by 12 July 2019 to the following address:

ILO Country Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan and for the Special Representative to the AU and the ECA By hand delivery: Congo Building, Room No. 536
Or**

By post mail: PO Box 2788

UNECA Compound- Addis Ababa