EDITORIAL: Protect our workforce
Successive administrations in Barbados have been carefully monitoring the unemployment rate for years. According to the IMF, our most recent unemployment rate is 10.4%, which is likely due to recent public service cuts and private sector restructuring efforts. The rate listed for Trinidad and Tobago is 4.8% while for Jamaica the rate is 11%.
Various programmes have been implemented to decrease the percentage of those over 18 years of age who remain without work, some of them liming on the blocks and others making continued effort to find suitable employment.
Some Barbadians feel as if they are trapped between a rock and a hard place when they are unable to find a suitable job on the island, but are also unable to obtain such jobs overseas. Often, jobs that are offered and open to Barbadian application are specific to the agricultural sector, which limits the amount of persons who would be able to emigrate for work.
In order to obtain employment in places such as the United States and the European Union, persons have to find companies willing to sponsor them to get the relevant visa or work permit. Companies therefore prefer to hire persons who do not require such sponsorship as it comes at a cost to the company and is an onerous task. There are also limitations on the jobs for which visas and work permits would be made available; this is done for the protection of the rights of their local workers.
Investment being wasted
It also seems as though the difficulties being experienced by Barbadians are not experienced by persons from overseas seeking employment here. An indicator of this is the frequency with which notices are placed in the media expressing the interest of companies in hiring overseas personnel ostensibly because they cannot find suitable applicants here. This can be devastating to see for qualified job seekers and it suggests that local talent and expertise are not as valued as that of individuals trained overseas. This situation seems to occur most frequently in the Tourism and Finance sectors.
It is especially difficult for young educated persons who have invested time and money in their education, only to find that Barbados has a lack of suitable jobs. These persons often become underemployed and have difficulty repaying student loans and other debts incurred while obtaining educational qualifications.
The investment being made by the Government in educating young people is being wasted when these persons are unable to find suitable employment and therefore unable to benefit the economy.
Barbados must strive to ensure that enough interested young persons are trained in the areas which are likely to require more staff in the coming years. In this way, the society will always be ahead in terms of staffing our businesses. An analysis therefore needs to be done to see where most jobs will be available in the near future. The island must also continue to ensure that local workers are given preference in employment, especially in fields where it is clear that Barbados has no shortage of trained workers. Strict measures must be enforced to protect our workforce.