Africa has experienced sustained growth in recent decades. However, it is still
confronted with major challenges with respect to poverty and sustainable development, and in
particular regarding employment, as illustrated by the post-2015 agenda of the UN. One of
these challenges (and new Sustainable-Development Goals) relates to the promotion of
sustainable and inclusive growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
There has been concern over the past few decades about the evolution of labour markets in
developed countries, and the shift in employment away from traditional full-time permanent
jobs towards more flexible and less regulated – so called Non-Standard Forms of Employment
(NSFE). However, the context of labour markets and traditional work contracts in Africa
stands in sharp contrast to that in developed countries: the Agricultural sector remains large
and the informal sector is prominent. Following the initiative of the International Labour
Office (ILO) to extend our knowledge of NSFEs to developing countries, this report discusses
the incidence of NSFEs and their consequences for wages, job quality and other job
characteristics in two sub-Saharan countries: Ghana and Uganda. The choice of these
countries is driven by the availability and complementarity of micro-data and the two
’ .
The 2012 incidence of NSFEs in urban areas, defined in opposition to standard full-time
permanent contracts, is around 28 per cent of wage employees in Uganda and 35 per cent in
Ghana. A little over 40 per cent of these jobs correspond to part-time employment in both
countries, the other 60 per cent being temporary workers, those engaged in fixed-term/nondurable
relationships and casual work arrangements. Global macro-economic developments
since 2008/2009 have affected the structure of employment, and in particular the different
types of paid employment. During the crisis in Uganda, there were notable shifts in permanent
part-time and short-term contracts that can be related to economic growth. In addition, the
work hours of NSFE workers fell following the 2011 recession in Uganda, while they
remained stable for workers in standard employment. Although NSFE workers do not
represent the majority of the workforce in either country, non-standard forms of employment
appear to be used by employers as a tool for workforce adjustment.