Employers looking for well-rounded workers

 More and more companies are now looking to hire workers who have diverse work experience and education in a variety of disciplines.

 

This is according to Labour Management Advisor at the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), Melony James. She noted that because of the “constricted labour market”, many employers are seeking to hire persons who have the knowledge to perform the duties for more than one field, so that these workers can not only remain in that position in the long-term, but they can also work with other departments for the overall benefit of the company.

 

Responding to a question from The Barbados Advocate about whether persons, especially the youth, have a hard time finding employment because they are caught in a catch 22 situation of 

‘no work experience no job; no job no work experience’; or because employers just do not believe that these young workers have the capacity to carry out the job duties, she said that it is a combination of both.

 

“Because of the constricted labour market, employers at this point want to hire workers that they can get the most from. So you want person who already have the experience, who have the knowledge so that when they commit to your organisation, that they are not only able to stay in that particular post, but that they are able to link with other departments to develop the company as a whole as opposed to being restricted to one particular job function," she said.

 

In fact, such is the case that some employers are now looking at not just combining two or more related fields into one, but also in some cases, unrelated jobs into one position and then advertising for persons who meet all of these skills sets and have the education in more than one area, she revealed.