LOCAL WORKERS NEED FOREIGN COMPETITION

Sep 08, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

If finding good workers is not enough of a problem, employers now have a new worry: ensuring that workers turn up to work five days a week.
The government recently amended the laws of Guyana to create a forty-day work week. Any work outside of this is considered overtime. But many persons in the construction sector will tell you that most Guyanese construction workers are only working, on average, three days a week.
When the workers are paid on Friday afternoon, they do not turn up on Saturdays for overtime work. Monday is usually a day in which they will absent themselves, because they usually are stale-boozed from drinking all weekend. As such, the workweek on many construction sites, including home construction sites, usually begins on Tuesday and ends on Friday, that is, if you are lucky, because some workers also miss Tuesdays.
And to add insult to injury, these workers demand a jewel and a crown for their work. Labourers are now calling a minimum of $3,500 per day for simply moving a wheelbarrow. And some workers who can hardly hammer a nail straight demand a starting pay of $6,000 per day. If you have some painting to be done, ensure that you have enough work for the painter to last eight hours, because if he has to work four hours, you still have to pay him a full day’s pay which can be as high as $6,000 per day.
This is just one of the reasons why construction costs are so high in Guyana. You would think that with such high pay there would be a large reserve pool of workers waiting to be employed in the construction sector. Think again! Workers are in short supply and good productive workers are even more difficult to find.
There used to be a time when you could estimate construction costs at about one-third of the cost of materials. Not anymore. Contractors are now demanding millions of dollars for ordinary jobs. This is because there is a shortage of workers and a greater shortage of quality workers.
The shortage of workers, coupled with the limited number of quality workers and the high pay being demanded, has led to many companies having to import labour. Yes, that is true. It is impossible for many major projects to be completed in Guyana unless labour is imported.
Unfortunately, it is only the large companies that have the ability to import labour and to be able to go through all the paperwork that is necessary for work permits and what have you. A small company cannot afford to import labour.
But many small companies and even individual homeowners would love to enjoy the benefits of imported workers. Many, in fact, are dreaming of the opportunity to employ some of these imported workers who came to build the Marriott Hotel.
If some of these workers, after they would have finished their stint could be deployed to assist small companies and even homeowners complete their construction, it would make a great difference, because these workers are very efficient and they work every day. You can be certain that you will get value for your money from them.
Already we have seen how foreign nationals working in the health sector have put their local counterparts to shame. The work ethic of these foreign workers and the care and diligence that they display is something that locals need to imitate.
If the government is keen on supporting local industry, it should take steps to allow small local companies and private individuals to make use of those imported labourers who are working on major construction sites, after these workers complete their contracts. This may not necessarily reduce how much is paid per day, but it will certainly increase the amount of work that is done per day.
Local workers are taking advantage of the fact that there is no large reserve pool of workers. Once there is competition from foreign workers, a great deal of slackness will be abolished and construction costs will be reduced, thus benefiting everyone in the economy.

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