Coronavirus: 300,000 public sector staff to work from home

Work has commenced to establish virtual offices for 300,000 public sector workers to utilize a platform dubbed “smart workplace project”.

The move is to ensure that the usual government business activities continue without any hitches despite the global spread of the Coronavirus pandemic that has forced lots of businesses and government offices to shut down.

The initiative is being carried out by a collaboration between the Ministries of Communication and Finance and the virtual platform will soon be made available to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country.

Already, about 20,000 public sector workers are utilizing the project to ensure that government business activities continue despite the halt of many economic and social activities.

Speaking at a press briefing on the coronavirus update in Ghana in Accra, Minister for Communications, Madam Ursula Owusu asserted that this new direction by the government will make it possible for workers to work from home.

“We don’t know how long the virus is going to last, but if it does, we have to explore other ways of using technology to facilitate government to government as well as citizens engagement”, she added.

Loss of jobs

Loss of jobs is one major shock this global pandemic is ravaging on world economies and countries in sub-Sahara Africa are likely to be the most affected. Job protection is, therefore, a major consideration in whatever plans are being drawn up in Ghana.

According to a report by the International Organisation (ILO), it states that the rapidly intensifying economic effects of COVID-19 on the world of work are proving to be far worse than the 2008-9 financial crisis, with cutbacks equivalent to nearly 200 million full-time workers expected in the next three months alone.