Friends, Acquaintances and Unemployment

Another important group that forms an essential part of one’s social capital is a one’s friends and in some cases acquaintances. Based on the interviews, it was apparent that friends played various

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roles that had some influence on job acquisition. The major contribution of friends seems to be in the job search process. Some of the help offered by friends included informing unemployed persons about job opportunities, recommending and connecting unemployed persons to prospective employers, and in a similar way as the family, being a source of finance for the unemployed person with a plan to start a business. As the literature review indicated, the influence of family and friends in job acquisition is in no way downplayed. This finding puts some perspective on the fact that in most Sub-Saharan African countries about 60% of all employed people are reported to have found their job placements through connections from family or friends (Filmer et al., 2014, p 229). Furthermore, as a study by Gush Scott and Laurie also discovered (2015, p13-14), social capital does not only serve as a linkage between people and jobs; through the thorough knowledge people have about others, they can decide which jobs are best suited for a friend or family in need of a job. Thus, it was obvious that a respondent, who during the period of her job search asked friends to help her get a ‘convenient’ job, had faith in her friends’ abilities to help her get the right job. She said: ‘I told my friends that I needed a job so if a friend was at Accra, Kumasi and other places and they found a job which was very convenient and can accommodate me, then I wanted it’. (YEP F4)

Mentorship also formed an important aspect of social capital. According to the interviews, mentors who are usually acquaintances to the unemployed person played some roles in one’s situation.

Interviewees indicated that mentors could be of help in guiding career paths, giving advice constantly in the case of self-employment, helping the attainment of more customers for business through referrals, and be a source of encouragement and motivation for the unemployed until they find their next employment opportunities. In one instance, a mentor helped one of the respondents in landing a job (i.e. YEP f2). Furthermore, in certain contexts, mentors could be of financial support to the unemployed. It was admitted by one interviewer (Nx1) that the single most important thing for youth when considering being entrepreneurs is mentorship although it was also realized that there was a general lack of mentorship for various reasons, and this has a dire consequence, particularly in self-employment agenda. This reiterates the claims of Ayodole, (2017, p 141-142) that there is the need for young entrepreneurs in African countries to have mentorship in order to successfully navigate around the very relevant issues. These include access to information, access to credit facilities, access to market, access to relevant institutions and access to the right skills in

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their quest to becoming successful entrepreneurs. This is what one interviewee said about the importance of mentorship to entrepreneurship;

it’s mentorship. YEP, because to be able to establish yourself, you need someone who has similar knowledge and practical experience apart from the theoretical background to at least be with for some time. Nx1

Influence of unemployment on friendships

As in the case of the family, unemployment has some impacts on friendships, too. The support of friends is important when people are unemployed. Findings indicate that friends, among other things, helped in providing support for livelihood if the friend had the means. In one instance, the respondent (i.e. Nx4) had started a business with a group of unemployed friends. This was, however, not so in all cases. For other respondents, complications resulting from unemployment situation led to the end of relationships or made the existing ones sour (i.e. Nx1, Nx5, Nx12, and YEPF2). One respondent who was in such a situation believed that this occurs because of the communication gaps that are generated when the unemployed person’s friends get employed after education or training. Others did not experience this situation but continued maintaining intact relationships with friends most of whom were unemployed too. Some of the respondents also mentioned avoiding friends due to the embarrassment of being unemployed for a long period. One respondent described this:

Those of us who were not employed were in touch constantly. You know how boys relate when, when they are in the same situation as you, they, they are around you but when the situation changes, there will be a big gap between the two of you. So, for, those who were working, there was this connection but not really. But it was not like those of us who were not employed by then. Nx5.

Apart from the strains that unemployment has on relationships, it so happens that in the situation of unemployment, individuals are susceptible to external influences that could be negative or positive. Influences from friends in a situation of unemployment could propel positive effects such as venturing into business - as happened to one interviewee - or could push people to engage in potentially criminal activities as happened to others. Respondents reported of times in their period of unemployment when they were lured to engage in defrauding, shoplifting and gang-related

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activities such as robberies. Two respondents (i.e. YEP 5 and Nx7) claimed to have fallen prey to such ill influences amid the need to meet personal needs. This is how one respondent explained the situation:

Sometime(s), I will be at home and they(friends) will come and call me, we can go out just to be roaming and just to find something to do, we can even go to a shopping mall and just take something without paying for it, because you don’t have the money to do that. We can just walk out with that particular thing without even paying and it is very risky. YEP F5 This situation supports claims by Kpae and Adishi (2017, p5) that youth are known to possibly succumb to the pressures of engaging in crimes when there is a lack of avenues for gainful employment.