Accra, Dec. 18, – Interest in participating in a fully operational 24-hour economy is substantial, with almost half of currently non-shift workers expressing willingness to work at night or under flexible schedules, new labour market data show.
The Ghana Statistical Service’s (GSS) Quarterly Labour Statistics for 2025, released in Accra on Thursday, indicate that although close to 98 per cent of workers are not presently engaged in night shifts, 47 per cent indicated readiness to do so.
Willingness was particularly pronounced among males (54 per cent) and rural workers (52 per cent), while 45.4 per cent of females and 44.1 per cent of urban workers reported no interest in night-shift work.
A breakdown of data for the second and third quarters of 2025 revealed that 435,614 persons were prepared to work regular night shifts, with an additional 227,278 expressing interest in occasional night-shift engagements.
The results emerge at a time when government is rolling out a US$4 billion flagship 24-Hour Economy initiative intended to expand employment, enhance productivity, and strengthen Ghana’s competitiveness as a round-the-clock economy.
Presenting the third-quarter statistics, Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, said the findings demonstrate strong potential for the policy’s implementation.
“This signals clear potential for the 24-Hour Economy if appropriate protections and incentives are in place. Government must create an enabling environment, ensure people are willing to work, and set standards,” he noted.
He urged government to institute comprehensive standards for shift-based and flexible work arrangements to safeguard worker welfare, ensure fair remuneration, and promote income security as participation grows.
Dr. Iddrisu also called on the private sector to leverage the readiness of workers by scaling up operations, expanding production capacity, and developing structured shift systems anchored on well-defined quality standards.
He encouraged individuals to prioritise continuous skills upgrading and lifelong learning, particularly in expanding sectors such as services, digital work, and modern agriculture.
On unemployment trends, the GSS reported that the average national unemployment rate stood at 12.8 per cent across the first three quarters of 2025, with unemployment among females remaining consistently higher than among males.
Urban unemployment averaged 15.1 per cent compared to 9.6 per cent in rural areas, with the widest disparity of 6.2 percentage points recorded in the second quarter, reflecting more intense competition for limited formal jobs in urban centres.
Key recommendations highlighted the expansion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), digital skills programmes, apprenticeships, and strengthened pathways from school to work.
The Service further advocated increased investment in training, apprenticeship schemes, and internship opportunities, alongside the use of data-driven workforce planning to inform recruitment, training, and capital allocation decisions.
GHBUSS
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