60+ Nigerian HR Statistics You Need To Know In 2024
By
Lade Falobi
on
January 29, 2024
In the dynamic landscape of Nigeria's workforce, Human Resources (HR) professionals play a pivotal role in shaping organizational success. However, that work can be made even more difficult by the lack of comprehensive human resources data and statistics to help HR managers make better people management decisions.
That’s why we have compiled a list of top HR statistics that every HR Professional in Nigeria needs to know. These statistics reveal vital insights about the current state of the workforce, recruitment trends, employee engagement, employee benefits, compensation practices, and the adoption of HR technology.
Importance of HR Statistics in Nigeria
Informed Decision-Making: HR statistics serve as the compass guiding strategic decisions, providing data-driven insights into employee behaviour, recruitment efficacy, and organizational culture.
Navigating Workforce Diversity: As the statistics will reveal, Nigeria has a very diverse workforce and as an HR professional, you need to understand this nuance so you can have a tailored approach to challenges and opportunities.
Proactive Issue Resolution: When you’re armed with data, you can address issues proactively, by seeing patterns before problems even form.
Compensation Management: There is so little data about average salaries and pay bands in Nigeria and HR professionals are often forced to go blind when setting compensation for new hires. With access to data, you can set salaries and benefits that are fair to both you, the hire, and the company.
Talent Acquisition: When you know the data regarding recruitment and unemployment, you can optimise your acquisition strategies for better outcomes.Â
Statistics on Workforce Demographics in Nigeria
Youth unemployment from 1999 to 2021. Source: Statista
In 2021, the estimated youth unemployment rate in Nigeria was almost 19.61% - Stastita, 2021
Primary job types among employed Nigerians (Q1 2023). Source:Â NBSÂ Labour Force Survey
Only 11.8% of employed Nigerians are engaged as employees (salary or wage earners) in their primary jobs. On the other hand, 75.4% of employed Nigerians work in their own business or conduct farming activities for their primary job - National Bureau of Statistics Nigeria Labour Force Survey Q1 2023
According to Nigeria’s new unemployment methodology (ILO), Benue State has the lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria, while Imo State has the highest unemployment rate. However, according to the former international methodology, Lagos state had the lowest unemployment rate, while Benue state had the highest unemployment rate - Statista, 2023
Over 60% of unemployed youth in the North East have been without work for at least 3 years, while 17%Â of young people in the South West have been unemployed for at least 3 years - Jobberman, 2022
About 78% of unemployed youth depend on family and friends to survive - Jobberman, 2022
‍* According to the ILO standard, to count as employed, an individual must have worked for at least one hour in the previous seven days – making them employed at work – or they must typically work for pay or profit, even if they did not do so in the previous seven days – making them employed, but temporarily absent.
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Employability Statistics in Nigeria
More than 50% of graduates disclosed that communications skills (written and spoken), as well as knowledge of the skill they studied, are the two least skills their academic education prepared them with - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2018
Nigerian Employment By Degree. Source: Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Among Nigerians with post-secondary education, people with HNDs and ONDs are most likely to be unemployed (58.9% and 49.55% respectively), while people with PhDs and MSc. are most likely to be in full-time employment (89% and 50% respectively) - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Nigerians who study law have the highest rate of employment (47.79%) followed by Electrical & Electronic Engineering (46.39%) and Chemical Engineering (44.05%) - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
The University of Ibadan provides the most employable graduates (66.67%) followed by Babcock University (64.81%) and Covenant University (63.22%) - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Compensation & Employee Benefits Statistics In Nigeria
The minimum wage in Nigeria is N30,000, but the average cost of living for a Nigerian individual was N43,200 in 2020 and that of a family was N137,600 - Statista, 2023
Individuals working in executive management and change roles garnered the highest average annual salary in Nigeria at 96,000 U.S. dollars - Statisa, 2023
Monthly income of Nigerians. Source: Piggyvest Savings Report, 2023
Gift cards & vouchers are the 2nd best Christmas gift for employees, with 15.85% of Nigerians choosing it as a first choice and 17.07% making it a second choice - Motherboard Perks Report, 2023
The Fintech Industry is currently the highest-paid Sub-tech industry in Nigeria, with 76.19% of earners above N500,000 in the Fintech space - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Graduates from the University of Port Harcourt earn the highest average annual salary (N2,680,230), followed by Obafemi Awolowo University (N2,445,570 and the University of Ibadan (N2,337,930) - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Monthly salary distribution by gender. Source: Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Among people who earn over N500,000, 60% are male while 40% are female. On the other hand, among people who earn below N50,000, 43.68% are male while 56.32% are female - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Nigerians who have PhDs and MBAs are most likely to earn above N250,000 (49% and 22.23% respectively) while those who have ONDs and HNDs are most likely to earn below N100,000 (80% and 70.39% respectively) - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Recruitment Statistics In Nigeria
The IT & Technology industry remains the topmost sought-after industry both in terms of supply and demand between January 2021 to July 2021 - Jobberman Jobs Bullet 2021
39.67% of employed Nigerians found out about their jobs through personal contacts (family & friends), 21.38% through social media and professional networking sites, and 14.43% through recruitment agencies and online job sites - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
Educational qualification was a requirement for 58.84% of jobs, while for 13.6%, it was an advantage rather than a requirement - Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, 2022
More than 37% of employers prefer to hire candidates based on practical tests while 22% give preference to updated CVs. 20.84% prefer portfolios, while 18.85% prefer professional certification - Jobberman Nigeria Digital Sector Skills Gap Report 2020
The top 5 voted intrinsic traits that matter most in a company are competitive pay package, career growth, job security, financial stability of the company, and welfare benefits - Jobberman Best Companies To Work For Report, 2019
The top 5 voted extrinsic traits that matter most in a company are strong relatable company values and goals, open effective management, flexible hours, transparent performance management, and health programs - Jobberman Best Companies To Work For Report, 2019
Only 48% of employees say they are happy with their current job and 69% feel valued for the work they do. Of that percentage, only 24% are women, while 45% of men feel valued in their current jobs - Jobberman Best Companies To Work For Report, 2019
According to employers, the top 10 digital skill gaps among Nigerian job seekers are Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Identity Management & Access, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Infrastructure, UI/UX, Computer Programming, Mobile Development, and Penetration Testing - Jobberman Nigeria Digital Sector Skills Gap Report 2020
It is not enough to simply know what the data says about employee compensation, recruitment, and employability. You must also understand the key insights to gain from the data and apply them to your people management strategies in your day-to-day job as an HR professional.
Gender Disparities: The data has shown that there is some disparity in employment rates and salary bands for men and women, especially in salaried jobs. As an HR professional, you need to be intentional about creating inclusive and equitable workplaces.
Employability Skills: Some graduates lack essential skills like communication and practical knowledge. This means that HR professionals must invest in learning & development programs for employees or partner with educational institutions to bridge the gap between academic education and workplace requirements.
Compensation Management: A vast number of Nigerians are underpaid and their salaries can barely make up for the current living costs in the country, especially in light of the recent fuel subsidy removal and higher inflation rates. Therefore, HR professionals must create considerate compensation packages that consider employees’ living needs. Where companies do not have enough salary budgets to cover, they can make up for it with benefits packages that provide for important employee expenses (e.g. food & groceries, health and wellness, fuel).
Talent Acquisition Strategies: It is clear that the majority of employed individuals came onboard via referrals from personal contacts. HR managers may consider trying diverse recruitment channels (like posting jobs on professional networks or leveraging paid referrals for successful hires)
Employee Retention Strategies: Almost half of employees do not feel valued or happy in their current roles. As an HR professional, you must put in intentional efforts to increase job satisfaction. You can do this by leveraging the 5 intrinsic factors that employees consider (competitive pay package, career growth, job security, financial stability of the company, and welfare benefits)
Technology Adoption: Digital penetration is increasing in Nigeria and there are many ways that you can make your day-to-day HR tasks easier by automating them. HR professionals need to be aware of HR software in Nigeria that help ease their work and improve productivity.
Conclusion
There is no need to hypothesise again; the data speaks clearly and it is time that HR people pay attention. As an HR professional, you must become intentional about designing employee acquisition, engagement, and retention strategies that help you acquire and retain top talent even in companies with limited resources.
One such way is by using employee benefit platforms like Motherboard, that let you assign flexible benefits to reward employees, increase their productivity, ease their cost of living, and cut down on employee turnover.
