There are many sources of employment in Uganda. the major ones are:
1. Government
2. Non Governmental Organizations
3. Telecommunications Companies
4. The Education Sector
5. Media
Government
The role of government in Employment cannot be down played. In this regard the nature of politics has meant that to a large extent most opportunities have had to be distributed to trusted mainly pro-movement supporters. This has been an unavoidable path for a system that is built and that depends wholly on presidency as the supreme source of leadership and in respects the only true fountain of honest leadership. This is reflected in many ways and manifests itself in the numerous demands for responses from the president to help mitigate land issues, local disputes within families and many more often trivial issues that many feel would remain unresolved without his hand. While you could argue that this is a weakness in the presidency and especially one that has been in place for so long, we have similar effects in the neighborhood of Tanzania where a party takes that place of the presidency (which is better regulated) and manages to entrench itself in other significant but in some way unrelated aspects of local life such as the employment of citizens and their access to opportunities.
Local government in the attempts to improve service delivery have found it useful to create patterns similar to those that are used in the health sector where there has been a push to have a health center accessible at a distance of about 4 miles.
Even if the growth and emergence of more districts has been pushed by many locals, the same has been criticized by others for creating governance and employment complexities. That said, the District Service Commission of Arua For example was responsible for the creation of 55 jobs in health as well as general office management. Gomba advertised 5 jobs, Kabarole Advertised 2 (New Vision Monday 17th February 2014)
Non-government Organizations
The civil society groups in the region have played a prominent role as the de facto supporters of the opposition as well as the attempt to play the role of the nations' conscience. By establishing NGOs foreign governments have had the ability to engage with government in creation of employment opportunities as well as in the management of funds often sent in through partnerships with these NGO. The job seekers therefore often has to watch the local space for funds that are released in areas like Roads (European Union), Disease Control (USAID) and Trade Related issues such as AGOA (where the U.S sought to create opportunities that would enable locals to take advantage of American Markets). Because of the linkages between government and NGOs many of these opportunities often take place at the time when government announces the release of funds for specific needs. Reproductive Health Uganda had 11 offers, PACE had an opening for team leader in reproductive health as well as a quality assurance position. In addition to this and in relation to the previous two, there was an opening for marketing and health officer for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (Monday 17th February 2014).
Telecommunications Companies
The emergence of new players in the always presents new opportunities for employment. The only challenge is that often these companies tend to recruit professionals that are already in place with other local players and that are familiar with the local market. This leads to a recycling of ideas so that the marketing campaigns of new groups bear frightening similarity with those of previous players.
There is also a balance of hires and fires which means that if 10 jobs are created fifteen can be lost in the same breath. In addition to this it is important to identify jobs that are dependent on larger industries. As such marketing, sales, client support (call centers) are also bound to thrive as an indirect result of the rise of a new player in the industry.
The Education Sector
The rise of new technologies and new opportunities often causes a growth in the Education Sector. This growth in Uganda for example would bring about the expansion of programs to include oil and gas (extraction and exploration) as well as other development that sought to capitalize on Uganda unique geographical location (Business Process Outsourcing).
Gulu University had one opening for an accounting assistant, Kumi University had 2 major top level appointment that were advertised for Vice Chancellor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Uganda Christian University had 17 opening for administrative as well as for lecturing and teaching positions (Monday 17th February 2014)
Media (Print, Audio and Visual and Publishing)
The decision to transition from analogue to digital signals has brought about a increase in providers. This has meant that the visual space has flourished. As a result the need to producers, editors, directors as well as presenters has increased. The Vision Group has emerged as a significant player in this sector and had managed to expand the scope of its services from print to visual in not just one language but also into regional coverage, to exhibitions of all sorts from weddings to construction, to business development and innovation and much more. The Vision Group had 39 job openings ranging from camera operators to accountants to engineers and editors. (Monday 17th February 2014)
Regional concerns and other trends
The push towards regionalism has meant than anyone with any serious career development prospects has had to think critically about the region. This means for example having a knowledge of different policy documents in the area regarding employment and to some extent travel, import and export, infrastructure development, minerals as well as the complexities around governance and leadership. So knowledge of local languages is a plus, ability to travel, a background in consultancy is also recommended.
These regional concerns also force the keen observer to watch foreign players like China, the U.S, Europe as well as the activities of regional giants like Egypt (which influences development on the Nile), South Africa (which has played a major role in calming political tensions in the region), Nigeria (which is defining the manner in which emerging oil economies in the area navigate with other suppliers and processors).
The Entrepreneurs
It is also important to take into account the demographics in the region which favor youth. Anyone who ignores the young populations does so at their own risk. It also valuable to realize that the bulk of this group thrives on small business. This is why there must be a deliberate action to create and promote more innovation spaces and to push for more business development services like PAKASA (From The Vision Group) which should be expanded to function regionally and to provide business support services much like the Agricultural Extension Services that were designed to function with NAADS programs. Efforts must also be made to re-connect the young people that have fallen out of the system of education to get back into it and to get hands on training to boost their employability. The entrepreneurs have to be given a unique space because there are very few ads in the paper for this specific group.
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