January 20, 2023
The CEO of a regional recruitment service is lauding the government of Bermuda for its commitment to providing continued job training to citizens and residents, commending it as a sustained effort to boost employability.
Caribbean Employment Services Inc. is a market-leading digital talent acquisition service that aims to connect the top talent from the Caribbean with hiring managers, HR professionals and decision-makers in companies both within the Caribbean as well as abroad. Further, it aims to provide the region’s jobseekers and those who are already employed with news and resources related to Caribbean labour.
Joseph Boll, Caribbean Employment Services Inc. CEO, remarked that Bermuda is already a regional leader when it comes to employment. “Its renewed, continued efforts in this regard will augur well for businesses, residents and the economy on the whole,” he added.
In particular, Boll spoke to the skills gap issue that has been a longstanding concern in many Caribbean nations, and in the region as a whole. It has not been uncommon for local residents to say they feel that some businesses favor expatriate workers for their highest-ranking, highest-earning positions, whereas residents believe they are more than qualified to fit the bill. On the other hand, it has likewise been common to hear businesses say they struggle to find adequately skilled workers to fill available roles, prompting them to seek work permits for foreign workers to come in to fill their labour demands. Some have argued that this push-and-pull between local workers and foreign employers contributes to the brain drain that many Caribbean countries face, where young, educated residents leave the country and move overseas to find suitable employment.
However, targeted job training programmes like Bermuda’s have the potential to change that for the better, said Boll. If such initiatives can target where there may be specific skills gaps in the country, and develop training programmes to ensure residents are being trained to fill those roles, it could resolve some long-held challenges.
“If the government can provide that training free of charge or at very little cost, that’s even better,” Boll noted. “This is why we’re so thrilled to see what the government of Bermuda is doing and we look forward to its continued success.”