The Role of Labour Administration System Services in the National Development Process: The Case of Malawi

Abstract

This paper, using desk review and document analysis method, discusses the role of labour administration
system services in the national development process. Labour administration services, theoretically,
contribute towards the national development process but practically this is not the case in Malawi either
because officials from the Ministry responsible for labour administration services are not effectively
discharging their duties as required or government is not adequately financing the operations of the labour
administration services. This paper establishes, that the focus of all the Malawi national development
policy frameworks is the reduction of poverty levels amongst Malawians and growth in Gross Domestic
Product (GDP); that the reduction of poverty levels could be a result of improved living standards of people
that would be due to improved earnings or wages of the country working population resulting from
effective implementation of labour administration services; that growth in GDP means that there is growth
in the production of outputs, the process mostly influenced by labour (skilled) as one major factor of
production. The paper, through such established linkages, concludes that labour administration services can
play a great role towards the national development process. With this conclusion, it is thus justifiable to
recommend that government’s political will and commitment with respect to financing for the effective
implementation of labour administration services is necessary and that Malawi government should
prioritize the enforcement of labour standards through labour inspections and skills development process to
improve compliance and workplace labour productivities respectively for improved GDP and economic
growth.