Lagos State Government has said there is a need for a change of approach to employment opportunities among job seekers, to meet demands in the labour market.

Citing COVID-19 pandemic, which has changed the nature of jobs globally, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, said it was imperative for young graduates to harness the opportunity of the COVID-19 to rethink and re-strategize on how to cope with the future of work.

She was addressing participants at an online mindset re-orientation workshop organised by the ministry with the theme: “Surviving the times, the future of the job the new normal for unemployed graduates in the state.”

Arobieke said producing graduates with employability skills is important because the labour market is competitive, adding that employers are looking for people flexible to initiatives and having the ability to undertake tasks with little or no supervision.

She said the ministry partnered recruitment agencies to prepare young graduates for employment opportunities by enhancing their job interview skills and impacting job hunting strategies, which would give them an edge over their contemporaries.

The commissioner told the participants that possessing certificates alone is not enough to get jobs.

She said they are also expected to possess skills that will make them assets and not liabilities to their employers.

Permanent Secretary Mrs Boladele Dapo-Thomas expressed confidence in the capacities of the resource persons to impact the participants from their wealth of experience.

She urged the graduates to utilise the information that would be acquired from the training to chart a new course for their career.(Text, excluding headline, courtesy The Nation)