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Govt. engages Consultant to address gaps in labour market

Sep 06, 2022 News

…as oil puts strain on limited resources

Kaieteur News – Conscious of the migration of labour from traditional sectors into the oil and gas industry, Government said it has engaged a Consultant to analyze this state of affairs and provide immediate solutions.

In its 2022 Mid-Year Report, Government said the Consultant will review gaps in the labour market and support the design of training and appropriate policy advice to resolve the ongoing issues.

With just a population of about 700,000 people, a report by the International Organisation on Migration (IOM), has highlighted that the foregoing review would be urgently needed since the country could face a labour crisis with the emergence of the oil and gas sector.

The report states that if Guyana were to harness all of its unemployed, underemployed and discouraged workers, the potential supply of labour would be only 63,500 the medium-term. It goes on to state that Guyana will need approximately 160,000 workers. It concluded that there will be the need for, at minimum, 100,000 workers in Guyana to realise its full growth potential.
With this in mind, the IOM said it is crucial that Guyana understands that it needs to tap into its Diaspora potential and urgently produce a structured migration policy, informed by evidence-based analysis.

The document noted, “Guyana has a large Diaspora around the world, particularly in the US, UK and Canada, this pool of Guyanese workers is said to number about 550,000 many of whom are considered highly skilled. It is therefore recommended that structured engagement with the Diaspora ensues so this skill set can be utilised to contribute to its maximum potential.”

Simultaneously, the IOM stated that the Government must ensure the Guyanese workforce benefits from significant training for those without skills, retraining for those whose skills may be mismatched with the demand in the economy, and upgrading of skills for those who may have skills but are unable to operate in an intensified competitive environment.

Equally crucial, the organisation said, is for there to be an understanding of the type of labour, which is needed as the country moves deeper into the oil and gas era.

Towards this end, the IOM said there is need for the establishment of labour market information systems (LMIS) which can be handled by a labour market information centre (LMIC). It was explained that an LMIC can be a bureau of Government which does research, analysis, and forecasts. This agency would have the principal responsibility of analysing the labour market, forecasting trends, understanding labour market gaps, collaborating with agencies such as the Bureau of Statistics, evolving the Central Recruitment & Manpower agency and advising government on policy.

Overall, the IOM said the Government has taken several steps in the right direction however, reforms, innovation and modernization, will be needed to ensure that Guyana can handle an explosion of growth in migrant workers coming into the country.

 

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