ABSTRACT

The study examined the effect of human capital development on the growth of fast foods in Abia State, Nigeria. It specifically focused on analyzing the socio-economic profile of the workforce; the effect of human capital development efforts on growth of the firm and factors influencing growth of the firm. Purposive sampling technique was employed in the selection of locations and 120 respondents who provided information and data in the questionnaires administered on them. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression model. The results of the socio —economic analysis showed that 98.33% percent of the respondents for the study are less than 50 years of age. However, 1.67% accounted for the middle aged respondents. Educationally, all the employees have varying degrees of formal education. Specifically, 3 0.83% of the employees which accounts for the simple majority have secondary education while 61.67% had higher education. .More so, 22.50% of the respondents are married while 77.50% are not married. The distribution of respondents in terms of experience showed that the respondents have maximum of 6 years of experience while 61.67% had I — 2 years of experience. Only 3 5.00% had a minimum of three years and a maximum of four years of experience. Income wise, it was observed that the respondents encounter some kind of income inequality that is inherent in Nigerian society. The Pearson correlation analysis posted a positive coefficient (3.182) and statistically significant at 5% probability level while the regression result revealed that education, experience and capital investment posted positive coefficients that are statistically significant at 1% level of probability. On the basis of the findings, the study suggested that management of the firms should organize capacity building programme periodically for their staff The essence is to enhance their expertise and professional competence.