#BTEditorial – Employees’ tolerance levels sinking

The year 2023 is being cheered as the “great rebound year”.  Economists and policymakers are encouraged by the return of “pre-pandemic” activities with people loosening their purse strings and beginning to spend some of the disposable income they were putting aside during that turbulent period.

In some cases, people are feeling more confident about their future and they are prepared to take on more credit and indulge in things that give them pleasure and personal satisfaction.

After two years of economic pummelling caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now in a period of restoration and re-emergence as a country.

The facial masks are gone. So too are the restrictions on movement. We are free to assemble as we wish, fete and socialise to our hearts’ content. If this is the case, then why are so many workers in Barbados seemingly unhappy and easily frustrated? Why are so many people depressed, ambivalent, and just appear to be going through the motions?

Though Barbadians are ostensibly surrounded by good news of a resurgent tourism industry, a significant drop in unemployment, a healthy level of foreign reserves in our treasury to support the continued value of the Barbados dollar against the United States dollar,  it seems too many people are still unhappy.

One may suggest that this state of grumpiness, may be a holdover from unresolved issues from the pandemic. Some suggest it is linked to the quick return to fulltime work and diminishing of flexible or hybrid work arrangements. The current disquiet in the industrial relations climate should not be dismissed.

Workers are exhibiting a level of impatience and intolerance not seen for some time. The high cost of living is creating distress and pressure in households as people try to cope with doing much more with less.

The announcement over the weekend that feed prices would increase which would inevitably lead to price movement on meats such as chicken, pork and beef, coupled with another increase in gas prices, are contributing to increased anxiety.

In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) specifically warned countries that they needed to ensure that programmes were in place to assist the vulnerable in order to reduce the likelihood of social unrest.

As we consider some of the things impacting workers’ level of satisfaction, PwC’s “Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey” found last year, that globally, one in five workers wanted to quit their jobs. About 71 percent of those surveyed cited pay as the key factor behind their decision to change jobs.

It suggested that  employees are also factoring in their well-being and their ability to learn, be creative or innovate in their jobs. Many also said they wanted flexibility of choosing when and where they work.

It is against this backdrop that we note the disclosure from the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) that it was facing a shortage of skilled labour in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BHTA chairman Renee Coppin announced that the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Regional Human Resource Development Knowledge And Skills Audit For The Tourism Industry found the sector was challenged to find and entice skilled workers to join.

She disclosed that jobs in Barbados’ tourism sector dropped from 46 500 to 34 200 and the island found itself forced to compete with international employers for scarce skilled industry workers.

Anecdotal information suggests that cruise ship operators were also luring some of the best skilled, young Barbadian tourism workers, some of whom had disengaged from the local sector because they did not see a future and room for upward mobility.

The local tourism sector must also admit that it has an image problem with the treatment meted out to hotel workers during the pandemic. Others have also noted the recent cases adjudicated by the Employment Rights Tribunal where workers in the sector were being unfairly dismissed or faced the threat of dismissal over the simplest of “infractions”.

One young tourism employee recently spoke of losing their job for telling a supervisor they were not being a team-player.

These incidents are sending the wrong message to Barbadians and serve to reinforce the belief that the sector is often exploitative, and that the riches of the tourism sector are seldom shared by those who put in the hard work to keep it thriving.