Howard Campbell, Senior Gleaner Writer
UNEMPLOYMENT, CONSIDERED by sociologists to be an offshoot of crime, is high on Jamaicans' list of national concerns, according to a recently-conducted poll by Don Anderson's Market Research Services Limited.
The pollster and his team interviewed 1,200 persons aged 18 and older with 45 per cent pointing to high unemployment as an area that needs urgent attention from Government. Corruption in government (8.3 per cent), education (six per cent) and drug trafficking (5.4 per cent) complete the top five list of issues of concern.
According to statistics from the Economic and Social Survey (2003), there are over 144,000 unemployed persons in Jamaica.
The government publication cited the 20-35 age group as the most inactive with as many as 84,000 persons out of work; 954,600 persons are currently employed.
The results of the Anderson team's investigation are not surprising to some in the business sector, including Doreen Frankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA). She believes, however, that there are jobs for the taking but not many persons are equipped to fill those vacancies.
"Many times the people are not trained and in a lot of cases when they are employed companies have to be doing on-the-job training," Ms. Frankson told The Sunday Gleaner. She pointed to "technical areas" which call for computer skills where workers show deficiency; Ms. Frankson is calling for a national education campaign to encourage computer literacy.
"The country needs to go on a training drive, this shouldn't be left to places like HEART/NTA," said Ms. Frankson.
PENDING BOOM
Similar sentiments were ex-pressed by Don Mullings, president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica, in a recent interview. He said with a pending boom in the construction industry, overseas workers would likely be brought in because the expertise is lacking locally.
This has to change, he said, if Jamaica is to lower unemployment and more significantly, compete on the world market. "It necessitates that the Jamaican worker, contractor, manufacturer, banker, farmer, baker operate at world-class standard to be able to maintain high levels of productivity, sustainability, profitability and remain competitive," said Mr. Mullings.
Interestingly, it was in the high-tech sector that Government held highest hopes for job creation. In June 2001, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Phillip Paulwell, said he expected the much-touted Infor-mation Communication Technology (ICT) companies to provide 40,000 jobs mainly in call centres.
AGENCIES FOLDED
But several of these Government-funded agencies have gone under, the most sensational being NetServ which went into receivership in December 2001. Government had pumped millions of dollars into that venture.
Robert Kerr, a senior consultant in investment and promotions at Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO), says while the ICT sector's lofty job projections have not materialised, it has not been the massive failure some are making it out to be.
"I believe it has grown significantly, if you look at the factory space in Kingston and Montego Bay, it's virtually all taken up by ICT companies," he said. "There's also the cable channel operators and cellular companies who are doing well. What has hurt the sector is negative perception."
SMALL COMPANIES
Ms. Frankson, who is also managing director of Edgechem Limited, says banking on small businesses is one way to cut into unemployment. "Part of what will help this country is investing in small companies but there is no emphasis on helping these companies," she said.
Valerie Veira, an executive at the government-run Jamaica Business Development Company (JBDC), agrees. She told The Sunday Gleaner that the over 300 suppliers to the JBDC's Things Jamaican outlet are small and medium-sized companies which produce a diverse line, from confectioneries to garments and fermented products.
"I have seen some of these businesses grow and employ more people but they still need a lot of training and technical support. They also need a more stable environment if they are to survive," said Ms. Veira.
