PhD - Thesis
The majority of the workforce from all walks of life worldwide are engaged in informal
employment. Over 75 per cent of the workforce in Tanzania is in the informal
employment. However, secondary school graduates are the majority among the
unemployed population compared to other categories of graduates despite the existence of
employment opportunities in the informal sector. In addition, informal employment for
secondary school graduates in Tanzania has attracted little research interest despite its
potential in absorbing the majority of secondary school graduates. The current study was
conducted in Kigoma District in Tanzania with the aim of determining the influence of
transferable competencies, informal labour market conditions, employability, and
personal circumstances on informal employment among secondary school graduates. A
cross-sectional survey was employed to collect data from a sample of 338 (out of the 396
expected) secondary school graduates, who graduated between 2008 and 2018. In
addition, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informants Interviews (KIIs) were
carried out for data collection. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to
analyse quantitative data. Principal Component Analysis and Reliability tests for internal
consistence were used to ascertain the explanatory and outcome scale constructs. The
study used descriptive and inferential statistics (binary logistics) to assess the influence of
explanatory variables on the dependent variable (informal employment). The findings
show that, there are differences in transferable competencies between urban and rural
respondents. Also, the findings show existence of different ways in which the informal
labour market conditions are perceived. Transferrable competencies; interpersonal
relationship, entrepreneurship and self-efficacy were statistically significantly different
and ranked higher for urban secondary school graduates with an effect size > 0.1 exceptiii
for farming which ranked higher for rural areas. On informal labour market, the results
show that informal labour market accessibility, social capital, and legal framework for
secondary schools in urban areas differed significantly from similar variables for
secondary schools in the rural areas. On the choices of informal employment, the findings
show that the leading choices for urban areas were fish industry palm processing
transportation, trading, accommodation and food vending. Others included mechanics,
hairdressing, and street vending. On the other hand, the leading choices for rural areas
were agriculture, trading, fish industry, palm processing, and transportation. From the
binary logistic regression, which was employed to determine the effect of transferable
competencies and informal labour market conditions on employment status, the results
show that 12 out of the 17 variables were significant. The empirical findings show that
expanding informal labour market accessibility, financial capital especially for start-ups,
social capital, market friendly labour, and legal framework have influence on increasing
informal employment. In addition, self-efficacy, interpersonal relations, entrepreneurship,
farming, age, place of living, and sex had an impact on chances of informal employment
acquisition. Lastly, gender inequality is present in transferrable competencies, the way the
informal labour market impacts individuals and in the informal employment acquisition.
The determined variables from transferable competencies, informal labour market
conditions, and personal circumstances have some influence on the opportunities of
informal employment. Furthermore, those living in the urban areas are advantaged
compared to those living in the rural areas in in relation to employment opportunities.
Therefore, the local and central government authorities are advised to provide enablers of
employment for this group through the provision of transferable competencies. Also,
setting specialised areas for informal employment such as garages and markets, the
provision of grants and low interest loans to raise their financial capital and support
impartial job searches to assist those with poor social capital and to reduce extreme andiv
cumbersome labour related regulations to encourage employment. Lastly, the central and
local government authorities should encourage NGOs dealing with income generating
activities, the private sector, and individuals to undertake commercial farming in rural
areas to absorb unemployed secondary school graduates in the rural areas.