The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

"Many" of those hired through the government's Labour on the Blocks initiative were only employed temporarily, the director of labour revealed yesterday.

John Pinder, pictured, said the Department of Labour's follow-up inquiries with employers showed many persons hired at these job fairs had subsequently been released, although he attributed the 25 percent year-over-year decline in work permits granted in 2018 to the initiative.

Department of Statistics data released last week revealed that some 10,225 work permits were issued in 2018, a 24.69 percent decline compared to the 13,578 issued in 2017. The report, which was compiled from data collected from the Department of Immigration, indicated that the largest category of work permits was issued for domestic workers, followed by the hotel industry and then the construction sector.

Some 3,816 work permits, or 37 per cent of the total, were issued to Haitians. This was followed by Filipinos at 1,206 or 12 per cent of the permits issued. Jamaican nationals received 1,187 or another 12 per cent.

"The Labour on The Blocks initiative provided a number of Bahamians the opportunity to fill positions that I believe could have gone to foreigners," Mr Pinder said. "I believe that was the main reason for the decline in work permits.

"A number of local employers hired persons at the various Labour on the Block job fairs. We were trying to track them and follow-up with the employers but found, in many instances, that many of the persons hired had been let go."

Mr Pinder added: "I can't speak to every circumstance but a number of those jobs proved to be temporary. For instance, a construction company would have hired some persons to assist with a big project, and when that was done they let them go. Similarly, during the Christmas time a retailer would have brought on a few individuals to help handle the Christmas rush."

Dion Foulkes, minister of labour, said back in June that around 1,600 job seekers had obtained employment through the Government's Labour on the Blocks job fairs. It used community parks to register job seekers in the Department of Labour's database.