The Giant Recruitment Agency Scam in Ghana: Non-refundable Registration Fees

It came to my attention that recruitment agencies in Ghana charge job seekers certain amount of money, named registration fee. This amount can reach 600 GHS (over 130 US dollars).

What’s more important, this registration fee is non-refundable which simply means that you wouldn’t get your money back even if the agency couldn’t find you a job. Can you believe that?

Imagine the situation: MTN Ghana has 5 available job positions. The company would contact recruitment agency #A and inform the agency they need 5 workers. The agency will proceed to advertise these job positions and receive over 500 applications, charging each person a non-refundable registration fee when in reality only 5 people will get the job offer.

Several Ghanaians have shared their experiences about this huge recruitment agency scam in Ghana and it’s awful. Take a look at some of them

That’s a broad scam; because asking unemployed graduates to part with money they do not have when you can’t guarantee any return makes no sense but out of desperation and lack of any other alternative, these people are compelled to owe money from friends and family to pay these recruitment agencies.

Usually, companies pay to recruitment agencies to find candidates. It makes sense because these agencies work for companies by helping them with hirings. But it’s not always a good experience too. For example, in 2017 Magic Leap, the Florida based startup develops futuristic AR glasses lost more than $1,000,000 in recruiting fees for 39 hires. It was one of the biggest fraud scheme in the recruitment industry in 2017.

With the rise of technologies, the intermediaries are no longer needed in recruitment because with the power of blockchain anyone can become a recruiter and recommend candidates for vacancies. For instance, Aworker is the platform that helps to find the most suitable company and job position based on your psycho-type, professional skills, and achievements. Decentralization provides the best opportunities for creating a new professional ecosystem. It makes it easier to pay people for their actions in Aworker platform: with the power of smart contracts payments for acquaintance’s recommendation or coming to the job interview by yourself are automatic. Also, all information is securely stored, and all the actions are transparent which exclude the chances of getting trapped with expensive yet unnecessary obligations.

We believe that it is the best time for the recruitment industry to adopt new technology and invest in the future. It will be the win for everyone, hopefully, Ghana too.