Which is the job that you would never do? We posed this question to several Jamaicans, including 38-year-old Tricia, an unemployed mother of three from Montego Bay, who says that there are certain fields in which she will never seek work.

Most reviled by this woman was house-keeping or domestic work, which often attracts the minimum wage - now $3,200 weekly - both in private homes and the tourism sector.

"For domestic work, it is too much for the low pay. They want you wash, cook, clean every day. You can't choose to wash today and clean tomorrow. Even in the hotels, there are so many rooms to clean, all 15 rooms a day. You have to do it, " she lamented.

"When you go home you feel dead, you can't even look about your (children) dem. You don't have the time to relax. Most of the time, you leave work late, then you have to go home and do your house work, cook and clean and look after your kids. It is hectic, especially for single mothers, who don't have any husband to stand by them."

The woman is also wary of employment in the security sector - one of the largest sources of employment in Jamaica. "Where security is concerned, the hours are too long. It is also not really a safe job. The hours would beat me, so I don't even bother go there."

Terrence Miller, a 33-year-old unemployed man, who lives at his mother's home, in Westmoreland, told The Sunday Gleaner, "I would never do security work. I feel that my life is (threatened) if I do it. I would also never work as a police."

Twenty-five-year old Janice, who has been working in the security sector since 2001 comments, "The main thing they have against employment as security guards are the hours and working at night. They don't want to do the night shift. The hours are very long, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. They have to leave their houses late and they have to be outside. It also takes long to get paid - two weeks. They want to be paid every week." According to her, the treatment meted out to security officers by all sections of society was another problem.

Janice, however, notes that what she calls very good money can be earned in compensation for the long hours and low status that come with working in the private security industry. "I know of people getting over $20,000 per fortnight. These are the armed personnel who work at prisons," she said.

Name changed.