Manpower mobility and the flexibility of labour market under the Nigeria's structural adjustment programme 1986-1996

The study examines the functioning of the Nigerian labour market. This is done
by analysing the profile of manpower mobility. The specific objectives of the study are to:
provide detailed account of the developments in the Nigerian labour market during the
adjustment period; analyse labour turnover in some selected manufacturing establishment in
Nigeria;examine the profile of manpower mobility with reference to its extent, forms and
detenninants in Nigeria; and draw the implications of the observed manpower mobility on the
extent oflabour market tlexibility in the country.
Approached from the side of labour market inflexibility thesis, the study was
guided by two basic hypotheses: that there existed a restricted labour mobility in Nigeria's
labour market; and that wages exercised no significant influence on labour mobility .. For
this purpose, secondary and primary data were used. The secondary data were collected
from the publications of the Federal Offices of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Two sets of questionnaires were used to elicit desired information from employees and
firms in the selected manufacturing industries. Lagos and Kaduna were chosen as survey
locations because of the high concentration of manufacturing activities. Apart from the use
of summary statistics, stepwise regression technique was used to analyse the determinants
of job-tenure mode! as an indirect measure of mobility.
The results from the study indicated that there were structural and institutional
constraints in the Nigerian Labour market, taking the forms of wages and employment
control and geographical restriction to mobility. Also, job-tenure and turnover rates
among manufacturing workers were found to be longer and low respectively, indicating