Both our political parties have made the creation of new jobs part of their political mantra, and understandably so. This country wreaks with high levels of unemployment, and many complain of the under-reported and frustrating phenomenon of underemployment.

The People's National Party administration, while in power, had projected that some 40,000 jobs would have been delivered, largely through the expected blossoming of the telecommunications industry. The Jamaica Labour Party, in seeking to end its sojourn in the political wilderness, latched on to this exploitable theme, and promised jobs, jobs and more jobs.

Realistically, unless the private sector delivers jobs, the demeaning scourge of unemployment is likely to devour us. This has been and is a political headache for the current and past political administrations.

Source of concern

It must be a source of genuine concern to note the plethora of classified advertisements in the print media inviting dozens of job seekers at a time to apply for jobs at a factory of one sort or another. We have seen advertisements for biscuit, snack, bag juice and tin food factories, and had we not known better, one would be tempted to believe that we are in a cycle of unprecedented economic growth fuelled by industrial expansion.

It is very curious that these factories, sometimes seeking as many as 30 persons, are invariably associated with cellular contact numbers. Isn't there something suspicious here? In seeking to help many unemployed persons from my own community, I have made contact only to be advised of the need to register, and pay a non-refundable fee in order to kick-start a fresh search for a job.

Vulnerable applicant

It is at this stage that the unsuspecting and vulnerable applicant only just discovers that the advertisement was a gross manipulation and exploitation of the situation facing would-be job seekers across the nation. Contrary to what they were led to believe, there simply was no factory jobs available.

In such a scenario, do the Ministry of Labour and/or the Ministry of Industry and Commerce monitor these advertisements to ensure that job seekers are not exploited in such a shameless manner? Are these con men to get away with misleading advertising? It is unbelievable that this deception is allowed to continue week after week with impunity, and poor job seekers are subject to this level of indignity again and again. In this time of crisis, let us stamp out the psychological manipulation and rapacious exploitation of the desperate job seekers of this country.

I am, etc.,

WAT CHING

wat.ching@yahoo.com