Gov’t initiative helping citizens retool

overnment has rolled out yet another initiative for members of the public to retool and reeducate themselves as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt across the globe. The Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations in association with the International Labour Organization (ILO) yesterday launched its Employability Project which will see Barbadians able to gain new or refresh their skill sets as the nation seeks to get all persons back out to work.

Going live on the National Training Initiative’s (NTI) website yesterday, persons who became unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as others seeking to improve their employability are now able to register for the three courses on offer. With the programme being described as an intervention to be grabbed with both hands and feet and the course content developed by the Ministry, persons can participate in Core Skills, Occupational Safety and Health, and Entrepreneurship free of cost.

Being offered on the NTI platform, all courses are online and accessible through an electronic device and the internet. With a maximum of eight hours for any of the courses, participants can complete each of the courses over two weeks.

During the official launch which was hosted at the Warrens Office Complex, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the OECS Didier Trebucq called the initiative timely and important. Going on to say that the worst of the effects of the virus were ahead of us despite solid management from countries in the Eastern Caribbean, Trebucq noted that the socioeconomic fallout was expected to be hard on Small Island Developing States and that programmes like this would prove critical.

“As a response, we need to prepare and adapt, and I believe this is what is being done today. Because despite the negative effects of COVID, we must take advantage of a crisis and seize the opportunities that it can bring. I want to stress, in that respect, that Barbados is demonstrating a great deal of responsibility, responsiveness and innovation with measures to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on families and the economy and workers, including to protect the most vulnerable and this is what probably matters the most in this project,” he said.

During her address where she outlined some of the problems facing workers in the region Deputy Director at the ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Claudia Coenjaerts explained that the virus continues to take its toll on labour markets across the world with as much as 93% of the world’s workforce residing in countries which have experienced contractions as a result of the pandemic.

“During the first quarter of the year an estimated 5.4% of global working hours, equivalent to 155 million full time jobs, were lost relative to the fourth quarter of 2019. Working hour losses for the second quarter of 2020, relative to the previous quarter in 2019, are estimated to reach 14% worldwide – equivalent to 400 million full time jobs. And the prospects are not really better unfortunately. We are bracing for a long term impact,” she said.

Noting that Barbados had been working closely with the ILO for many years, Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan revealed that approximately 10,000 of the 55,000 claims for unemployment benefits to the National Insurance Scheme came from workers in the tourism sector, which was still essentially closed for business. Commenting that Barbados was largely a ‘service oriented economy’ Minister Jordan stated that now was definitely the time to get everyone onboard towards a stronger Barbados.

“Now, more than ever, there is a need to maintain human dignity and to protect the most vulnerable in our society. As we navigate this uncharted path, many have come to appreciate the need for having an effective social security system in place. But even as effective a social security system as we have in the country, it is still not enough. Even schemes like that, as good as they are, have their limitations. And so, all of us – government, employers, employees – all of us operating in the sectors across the country must be motivated, must be determined to ensure that all efforts are expended to help us fight the pandemic and to have that fight be a sustainable one because government cannot do it alone,” he said.

Going on to say that it was recognisedthat in order for a country to emerge from a situation such as the one we find ourselves in that we must come together, Jordan noted that there were ongoing initiatives to bring Barbados in line with the international standard.

“This is why in our ongoing effort to diversify the economy, my government is continuing to build out strategies for the Blue and Green economies, digital technology and education and health services as an alternative vision for economic growth and development. These emerging sectors are expected to improve people’s lives in ways consistent with sustainable development,” he said.

Adding that more courses would be on the way. Jordan also mentioned that it was important that all Barbadians made themselves ready for the next step.

“The overwhelming requests by customers for businesses to provide e-commerce during the stay-at-home period could not have been forecasted even as recently as January of this year. The call for government and government services to be provided on digital platforms has intensified. It is therefore imperative for both employers and workers alike to be flexible, to be dynamic and to be able to adjust in this environment,” he said. (MP)