The Mozambican Association of Employment Agencies (AMAE) was launched on Wednesday, August 21, with the aim of organising the recruitment market and preventing scams related to vacancies.
‘This is the launch of an association whose aim is to bring together all the national and international private employment agencies operating in Mozambican President, with the main mission of organising the recruitment and placement of labour in jobs on behalf of third parties, inside or outside the country,’ explained Luísa Mboana, president of AMAE.
She said that the country has had agreements signed for over a year with Portugal and the United Arab Emirates to send workers, as these are nations that lack labour. ‘We are organised to reduce the pressure of unemployment in Mozambique and take our candidates to these countries. We’re unemployed here, but they’re short of labour there,’ he said.
Luísa Mboana reiterated that private agencies play a crucial role in the dynamics of the national labour market, contributing significantly to transparency and efficiency in promoting employment and the country’s economic development. ‘The specialised services of private agencies and their ability to adapt to the specific needs of the labour market become strategic allies in the fight against unemployment and in building a more prosperous economy,’ she pointed out.
Luisa Mboana
She then went on to explain that ‘the Association aims to be the most dynamic, inclusive and participatory partner in private employment agency decision-making processes and centres, and the most proactive in resolving challenges to achieve positive results’.
And he listed the protection of private employment agencies and the ‘necessity’ of their membership in AMAE to organise, supervise, defend and develop the economic activity of the agencies; to ensure their compliance with labour legislation; in the definition and implementation of a code of ethics to be observed and respected by all companies operating in this sector; to support and develop actions for the defence and consolidation of the common objectives of the members and in collaboration with the State as a technical and consultative body in the study of problems and the presentation of solutions related to employment in the country’.
‘The fight against the recruitment of child labour and collaboration with the government to train the skills necessary for greater employability of young people and adults in large and medium-sized investment projects and the mapping of existing and necessary skills to share with employers and, in particular, with investors who intend to develop large-scale projects in the country are also focal points of this new association,’ he added.
CTA calls for speedier hiring processes
On the same occasion, the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Agostinho Vuma, praised AMAE’s collaboration in various working forums and regular consultations on behalf of the private sector. ‘I would highlight the active participation of this association in the Labour Consultative Commission (CCT), as well as in dialogue with various partners, including the National Vocational Education Authority (ANEP), where, in a harmonised way, it has been influencing the adoption of initiatives that promote the link between the Productive Sector and the National Vocational Education System,’ he pointed out.
The CTA president recalled that the country, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, signed a cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates and Portugal in 2023, which will consist of sending national labour to those destinations.
‘In this sense, we warn that this process should be conducted on the basis of great rigour, taking into account the guarantees to be given to the allocating company. We also warn that this opening should be seen as an opportunity for employability and the transfer of knowledge to our brothers and that it should constitute a real business opportunity for private employment agencies.’
Agostinho Vuma pointed out that, in terms of employability, ‘this opportunity becomes even more important when, from monitoring business activity, we have noticed that the job market, after covid-19, is still fragile, and companies are still more willing to hire temporary workers than permanent ones’.
And it emphasises that ‘between the first and second quarters of 2024, the Employment Trends Index (ETI) in the country expanded from 104.03% to 116.25%, corresponding to an increase of 12.22 percentage points.
This trend in the ETI signals that there was an increase in the possibilities of obtaining employment in Mozambique in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, mainly sustained by the dynamism observed in the hotel and tourism sector, as well as the start of the agricultural marketing season.’
