June 9, 2023
With a number of non-profit organizations, government officials and business leaders encouraging more Caribbean people, and especially more youth, to pursue jobs in agriculture, Caribbean Employment Service is calling attention to the wide range of career possibilities in the field — both figuratively and literally.
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.
Its CEO, Joseph Boll, noted that jobs in the green economy are projected to grow by the millions over the next several years. The green economy includes industries like agriculture but also clean energy, aquaponics, agritourism and more.
“Yes, agriculture includes traditional farming, and that’s a good career, but also so much more than that,” he said. “Technology has become so advanced that traditional farming is hardly a matter of physically toiling from sun-up to sun-down anymore. There are all sorts of ways that make farming easier, and let’s not forget emerging industries like aquaponics are considered a part of agriculture too. The first step is helping people to not think of farming in an outdated way anymore.”
However, beyond that, Boll noted that there are more and more corporate jobs that fall under agriculture as the world races to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), more than 12 million people around the world already have green jobs, and that number is projected to hit more than 100 million by 2030.
“A lot of people latch onto the idea of a desk job as the only way to be successful,” Boll said. “That’s not correct, but even so, there is an increasing number of corporate agriculture jobs that young people and keen jobseekers can pursue. Jobs like Sustainability Consultants or Sustainability Managers and Environmental Lawyers are incredibly popular and in-demand around the world right now because there’s actually a labour shortage in this field.
“Caribbean natives have the extra benefit of being sensitive to environmental concerns because their respective nations are so vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change, so this is an area that would be just perfect for them if more were to become aware of the many different opportunities just waiting to be seized by them.”
Boll added that career sites like Caribbean Employment Services Inc. and EcoCareers.org, an affiliate website, are excellent resources for young people and jobseekers keen to take advantage of such opportunities.