#BTColumn – Bringing joy to the world

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Dennis De Peiza

It is customary at the start of December to hear the sounds of Christmas carols reverberating across the global landscape. The carol entitled Joy to the World brings with it a sense of elation and the bestowing of blessings upon mankind.

Within the context of the emerging challenges in the current global economic, social and health climate, it seems that the anticipated joy associated with the yuletide season is all but a dream of hope to come.

The many promises made by governments that pipeline projects would be coming on stream have left millions who are currently unemployed, wishing and hoping that Santa Claus will bring them glad tidings and great joy, by presenting the news that there is a job offer in his bag of goodies.

There are many persons who are in dire need of a job, who would not concern themselves with the nature, requirements, and expectations of the job. The fact that many are desperate for work does not mean that they should be offered poor quality jobs, with poor conditions of service.

Employers should not be using the Christmas season simply to engage in temporary hiring, only to satisfy or meet the demand for more hands-on-deck, as they undertake to capitalise on the season of commercialisation.

The general scarcity of jobs has imposed serious pressures on the unemployed. Initially, employers in some of the employment sectors are delighted with the promotion of new technologies into the workplace.

This has given them the opportunity to reduce staff in the interest of reducing their operational expenses. For them, Joy to the World has real meaning.

The working class and the working poor are thrown into the deeper end of a bottomless pit, as invariably they are made to fight for the few jobs that become available. There are those who have skill sets that have become obsolete, while others suffer the indignation of having to learn that they are overqualified for the job.

The push to ensure that workers acquire new skills as the labour market now demands is unlikely to change the outlook for many unemployed persons.

As in the case of the United States of America, the celebration by employers to trim their staff numbers has appeared to be short-lived. It is a fact that those workers who were laid off, offered redundancy packages, paid severance or offered grant relief payments compliments of COVID-19, have decided not to return to work.

Can this be a case of employers being penny wise and pound foolish?

It is noteworthy that employers in some sectors of the US economy are expressing dismay that despite the availability of jobs, persons are not attracted to job offers. The bitter pill is being swallowed now that some businesses are facing the challenges of keeping their doors open.

The backlash which now faces some sectors of the US economy may only be a temporary state since the millions who live there and those who migrate to the land of opportunity will move into the lower-level and menial jobs on offer.

Those who can seize the opportunity to earn a living being paid in US currency might see this as the greatest joy of all.

The problem that will face workers where they reside will be that of having access to quality jobs.

The expectation is that workers will have job security, are paid appropriate wages or salaries for work done, have a reasonable workload, are provided with the tools and resources to get the job done, accorded recognition, benefit from open communication, are engaged through the process of employee participation and are subject to workplace standards and best practices.

Our citizens have a legitimate expectation to be provided with the opportunity to work. There can be no comfort or joy where a large proportion of the working population remains in a state of flux, where there is no job and no income.

It can be that an educated workforce in every part of the world is left to hold on to the hope of things to come. There can be no greater joy than to have suitable forms of employment that can absorb the vast majority of the workforce.

It is therefore left to governments to facilitate and engineer pathways to employment creation and to ensure a higher level of sustained employment.

Not to be left out of the equation, the private sector ought to pursue a path towards investment as part of the strategy to create new job opportunities. These combined efforts of governments and the private sector will certainly bring joy to the world.

Dennis De Peiza is a Labour & Employee Relations Consultantat Regional Management Services Inc. website: www.regionalmanagement services.com