Informalising the formal: the conditions of female agency workers in Ghana’s banking sector

The informal sector in Ghana is characterised by precarious conditions of work and high rates of poverty and, for these reasons, Ghanaian women’s participation in the sector has received sympathetic attention in the literature. By contrast, their work in the presumably more secure and rewarding formal sector—including the banking industry—has been relatively neglected. However, our research into the experiences of female bank workers hired through employment agencies reveal conditions of work that resemble those in the informal economy, with regards to contracts, wages, security of tenure, and channels of negotiation and redress. We link the situation of these workers to processes of economic liberalisation in Ghana and globally, which encourage the informalisation of labour relations to the detriment of workers generally, and female workers in particular.

By: Nana Akua Anyidoho & Akosua Adomako Ampofo

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