Young people eager to work

Amid the setbacks and challenges presented during the ongoing COVID pandemic, young people in Barbados are still eager to get themselves job-ready as they pursue new opportunities in the world of work.

This was the view expressed on Wednesday by Senior Youth Commissioner Elizabeth Bowen, on the final day of the Get Hired programme held by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment in partnership with the Prince’s Trust International.

“For the seminar, most persons are looking to gain employment because young persons coming are job-ready. They are job-ready because they meet the criteria of being 75 per cent or more ready in terms of having the requisite skill sets. They would have had previous work experience and the preliminary day [of the programme], would also have exposed them or refreshed them to areas that employers are looking for,” she said.

Bowen added that over the last three years, the Get Hired programme has benefitted more than 200 young people in a range of sectors.

“We would have done areas of the uniform services, we would have also done the retail sector, hospitality sector and the logistics sector. This particular seminar, we have 15 persons because we are restricted by the national health protocols. So, what we tried to do is ensure that we work with the COVID Monitoring Unit and have a safe space for persons to be engaged,” the senior youth commissioner said.

Bowen said the majority of participants have received job opportunities.

“So far, a lot of the young persons, even if they did not get the initial jobs they wanted to, have reported to us that they are employed in an alternate position.

“We ensure that young persons coming to us don’t come [only] to engage with employers, but we do follow-ups to ensure that they actually lead to a positive outcome. Our reports indicate that a majority of them are in positive outcomes,” Bowen said. (SB)