The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack has said that the federal government intends to embark on a personnel audit and a skills gap analysis for a 21^stcentury workforce.

She asserted this in Abuja in her remarks while declaring open the strategic study tour for Heads of Civil Service of the 36 states and the FCT.

The HoS stated that the skills gap analysis, already initiated by Borno and Katsina states would enable the country identify skills it required in its recruitment for a workforce that is technologically driven.

“The truth is, most of the civil services, the federal service inclusive, we do not have the right skills for a 21st century workforce. I was in an international conference in Singapore last year, and one of the OECD representatives said he had done a research and found that in Nigeria we need to infuse 39 skills into our service. So, we need to do a skills gap analysis to identify the skills that are not there and match them with the skills that we need to help us in our recruitment,” Walson-Jack said.

She also challenged the state heads of service, who may have recruited their workforce many years ago, to take skills gap analysis into consideration when recruiting their staff as the contemporary world is technology-driven.

Walson-Jack described the gathering as a moment of reflection and a renewed call to action to reaffirm their shared vision and drive forward the next vital phase of transformation with clarity, purpose and resolve.

She described their transformative study tour to Singapore earlier this year as an experience that was nothing short of inspiring, noting it revealed what is possible when a disciplined, digitally driven, citizen-focused Civil Service is placed at the heart of national development. 

Walson-Jack reaffirmed the unwavering support for the state heads of service, asserting the readiness of her office if they required policy direction, training, innovation support or technical collaboration from the centre.