Guyana targets the diaspora to fill labour gap

Some 16 Guyanese Private Sector companies were part of a Diaspora Job Fair in New York on Saturday seeking to recruit persons to take up vacant positions in their companies.

Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, while delivering the keynote address, noted that this is a fulfillment of a commitment made by President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali to host Job Fairs in different parts of the globe to reach out to the Guyanese diaspora.    

“What we are undertaking here is part of an ongoing campaign to ensure that one, our people are adequately updated on developments within our country but also and very importantly that the people of Guyana and Guyanese are not spectators to the transformation taking place, but rather we want them to be drivers, to be leaders and key beneficiaries of the progress and the transformation and the development and the prosperity that is taking place in our country,” the Foreign Secretary stated.

He noted that these same opportunities are open to Guyanese living in Guyana, however companies, despite constant recruitment are facing difficulties finding people to fill vacant positions.

He noted that the International Office on Migration did a study a year and a half ago. Currently, there is work being undertaken by an Indian expert within the Ministry of Labour to assess what are the skills needed in the various sectors. The expert is also looking at the existing gaps and strategies that can be undertaken to fill those gaps.

 “The number they came up with is in the vicinity of 100 thousand persons and that was a year and a half ago,” he said

He noted that the job fair is being facilitated to help the private sector.

“Why we are doing it, is because we do not have the resident skills and capacity to ensure that the transformation and the pace at which the president and the people of Guyana want the country to go, we do not have the people right now in Guyana to do that,” he stated.

Therefore, instead of recruiting non-Guyanese to fill those roles, a deliberate conscious and sustained effort is being made to reach out to the diaspora which is over a million people in different parts of the world.

He noted that because of the political crisis, over 30 thousand Venezuelans are living in Guyana.

“Were it not for their input and their support, many of the projects would have not been undertaken, so why is it should we not make a very aggressive push to go to the diaspora and ensure that they too come back and to play their part in the development of our country,” Persaud stated.  

He noted that the Job fair is intended to energise, excite and build interest in the second and third-generation diaspora.

“For many years, we have talked about the brain drain, here it is we have reached a stage whereby Guyanese companies are coming to North America to tap the brains of Guyanese who have left, and their children to go back and to play a part in the transformation and the development,” he stated.

Counsel General for New York H.E Michael Brotherson said the activity is a tangible manifestation of the deliberate efforts of the Government of Guyana to recognise and collaborate with all stakeholders, to address Guyana’s interest as the country continues on its current path of unprecedented and enviable development.

“Guyana today, is a nation on the rise and our economic realities have placed upon us, new challenges and needs, in this context therefore, it is easy to understand why an activity such as this one is necessary and of utmost relevance,” he stated.

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Komal Singh expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the activity and noted the high demand in the labour market in key sectors.

“Because of infrastructure development and all the growth in the other sectors, especially in the oil and gas sector we have seen a lot of movement of our workforce from the private sector and from government moving into the oil and gas sector,” he stated.

He noted that the high cost of labour is also negatively impacting the private sector.

He stated that if the labour force is not increased development can be slowed down and the cost of labour will continue to escalate.

“From a skills set standpoint. the market is very short of engineers, project managers, health and safety officers, welders, captains, deckhands and the list goes on, almost every single sector, every single business that is in this room here today is having labour issues, it’s not that we are not willing to pay but we can’t find them easily,” he said.

Guyanese Ambassador to the United States Samuel Hinds, and Chief Investment Officer and Chief Executive of the Guyana Office for Investment Dr Peter Ramsaroop also spoke at the event.