June 2, 2023
The CEO of a regional recruitment service is lauding the launch of an International Labour Organization (ILO) programme to encourage more entrepreneurship among locals, but is re-emphasizing a need to see programmes provide continued support of businesses too.
“Local and international programmes to support entrepreneurs and help encourage people to start their own businesses are great and we do need them in the Caribbean,” said Joseph Boll, CEO of Caribbean Employment Services Inc., a market-leading digital talent acquisition service that connects top talent with hiring managers, HR professionals and decision-makers in companies both within the Caribbean as well as abroad.
Boll said, “But encouraging them to start is one thing; helping them with the support and capital to actually launch their business is another; and then providing ongoing support to keep them from shutting down not long after is another. Ideally, we would want to see local businesses supported at each step of the way and not just given momentum to go nowhere.”
The Caribbean Employment Services Inc. CEO made the comments as the ILO prepares to launch its “Joint SDG Fund Programme: Building a resilient Belize through universal, adaptive, and sustainable social protection” programme. The initiative aims to help ensure more than 300 marginalized Belizeans — including women, youth and Indigenous peoples — secure decent, formal jobs.
Throughout the Caribbean in general, MSMEs provide a large portion of local jobs. In Belize, some 90 percent of businesses are MSMEs. However, the ILO, in a statement concerning the programme, noted that these “small enterprises are often characterized by low productivity, high informality and a short life span,” just as Boll called attention to.
Some regional economists and experts have singled out MSMEs in the Caribbean for development, noting that they provide the lion’s share of jobs in many countries. It follows, then, that when MSMEs are empowered to grow and expand, more jobs will be created accordingly. As such, Boll said his organization supports programmes that provide tangible long-term assistance to the region’s small businesses, which in turn can augur well for the many respective economies within the region.