INCREASING EMPLOYMENT IN THE JOB MARKET

Mar 23, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs are what are being demanded in the economy.
With a job, a poor individual can at least gain some stability in his or her life, help to provide for the family and have the satisfaction that come from affirming self worth.
While there is often the complaint that each year thousands are leaving the schools system but cannot find jobs, this is not just a problem of the lack of jobs. Rather, there are hundreds of jobs available locally but there are simply not enough skilled persons to fill the demand.
Each year, also, hundreds graduate from the University of Guyana. And many feel that having gone through four years of study for a degree, they have arrived and ought to commend high paying jobs. When they find that they cannot find suitable remunerative employment, they blame the job market and they blame the economy and they blame the government.
Yet these same individuals would leave these shores and sweep a factory floor in New York with their degrees. But back home, they expect to be treated as highly qualified persons who are ready to climb to the upper echelons of the corporate ladder. They need a reality check.
Many employers have also complained about difficulties in recruiting. One employer once related that someone came to him with impressive academic credentials but was unable to cover a simply story and could hardly string together a paragraph.
There are also many semi-skilled and unskilled individuals who need gainful employment. For many in these categories, they have to make do with being security guards. There is no dishonour in being a guard but too many persons are being forced into this form of employment simply because there are limited alternatives for them.
The government to its credit has been making an attempt to address some of these constraints. It has a number of training programmes geared at equipping persons with skills which can be used to secure employment. Just yesterday, it was reported that some 250 single parents were trained and would receive an interest free loan.
One wonders why the government has opted to do this when micro- financing is available in the private sector. While on paper it is commendable that the government should lend monies free of interest, one must ask about the incentives that are in place to encourage those persons who receive these small loans to repay.
There is no collateral and the borrowers do not have to worry about a bad record of credit since the government is not a lending agency and thus, cannot if someone is in default rate, that person risks profile accordingly.
But the government feels that it is providing opportunities for single parents and is helping them to earn a living. This is good and one can only hope that the monies that are lent are repaid.
There are other areas of training that are encouraging. Many persons are receiving training in skills that will allow them to join the labour market. One can see a great need in the economy for masons and carpenters since the home construction sector is booming and it is not easy to get the required skills. One recalls when the Buddy’s International Hotel, now called Princess Hotel, was under construction, the contractors were paying a high rate for certain skills and this was because there was shortage of these types of workers.
The government should therefore, without having to commission an internationally –funded survey, identify those areas of the economy that are booming and train persons to take up those jobs. There is for example, a great need for skills in the construction sector.
At the local government level, there is also a need for persons to work in keeping their communities clean and drains and canals free of weeds and other forms of clogging. In this area alone, thousands of permanent jobs can be created thus, securing permanent employment for individuals.
The monies can be found to pay these persons and there are easy ways to ensure value for money, once the various communities are integrated into the management of the project. At the same time, we will be able to maintain our drainage and irrigation systems.
Thousands of motor vehicles are also arriving in the country each year and this obviously has created a great demand mechanics and bodywork specialists. This is an area where the Ministry of Labour may wish to concentrate greater efforts since hundreds of “basic – servicing jobs” can be created in the transportation sector.
A great deal of agricultural produce is lost each year due to spoilage. Yet there are ways and means of preserving this produce so that it can be suitable for use at a later date. Here again, with the right training, jobs can be created.
If for every police station in Guyana we employ three individuals who are just out of school and have the required writing skills, they can be put to take reports about crime.
A great many police officers will be freed to undertake investigative work and we would also in the process create about a hundred jobs for those leaving school without them having to formally join the Guyana Police Force.
There are opportunities out there. Once the skills are there, the jobs can be found.

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