The Tribune

• ‘Very minor number’ of firms laid-off at February 12

• 250 cruise port jobs; hotel’s need for 40, show revival

• But IMF still pegging unemployment rate at near 14%

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The COVID furlough period’s end sparked very few worker terminations, the Government’s top labour official is asserting, with Nassau Cruise Port’s need for 250 construction workers “a good indicator” of the economy’s growing revival.

Robert Farquharson, director of labour, told Tribune Business that labour demand was starting to outstrip supply with his department having just provided resumes of available Bahamians to a major hotel seeking to fill some 40 positions.

He added that the COVID furlough’s expiry on February 12, 2022, had produced more of a whimper than a flurry of worker terminations with the Department of Labour receiving “very few complaints” from dismissed staff and notices of redundancies from “a minor number of companies”.

Mr Farquharson said he and the Government were interpreting this as a sign that employers had recalled most of their workforce by that deadline, with the tourism industry’s re-opening in particular - and the arrival of winter high season - providing the critical spark to return workers from furlough.

The Employment Act provisions, which require employers to recall furloughed workers within 90 days (13 weeks) or otherwise pay them due severance, were suspended under the former Minnis administration’s emergency powers in an effort to both preserve jobs and delay payment of severance packages that could have put cash-strapped firms out of business at COVID’s peak.

Those emergency powers were ended on November 12, 2022, by the Davis administration, but it extended the furlough period by an extra 90 days from that date to give pandemic-hit companies more time to recover and determine whether there was sufficient trade to warrant recalling all staff.

While there was initial confusion as to whether the 90-day period started running from November 12 or December 12, 2021, given that the COVID emergency orders had originally provided a 30-day extension beyond their expiry, Mr Farquharson said the Attorney General’s Office had determined that the former was the correct start date.

“It came to an end on February 12,” he told Tribune Business of the near two-year COVID furlough period. “As you are aware, the Government brought the emergency powers to an end on November 12. Once they were brought to an end, the suspension initiated by the Competent Authority [the Minnis administration] came to an end, and therefore section 28 (c) of the Employment Act as amended” came back into effect.

“There was a 90-day period which began on November 12, 2021,” Mr Farquharson added of the final furlough extension. “The Attorney General’s Office took a look at it and determined that it began on November 12. Ninety days thereafter meant, effective February 12, the amended provisions of section 28 (c) became effective.”

The February 12 furlough-end passed with seemingly little notice or mention, which the Government’s labour chief attributed to the strength of the economy’s post-COVID revival and the fact most businesses had recalled the majority of their workforces.

“Actually it was the opposite,” Mr Farquharson replied, when asked how many employers had moved to terminate workers at that date. “We got very few complaints from employees regarding termination, and very few employers notifying the minister [Keith Bell] of redundancies. That meant they had brought everybody back to work.

“A minor number of companies, a very small number of companies, indicated that redundancies took place. The increase in the hospitality and tourism sector, in particular, gave an indication it had begun to rebound. We had companies calling us, asking us that we provide them with resumes for persons seeking employment.

“A number of persons furloughed would either have found jobs in other sectors, or begun small and home-based businesses of their own. Having begun their own small businesses, they chose not to return to the workforce. We know there’s been an increase in demand for employment opportunities,” Mr Farquharson continued.

“A major employer came in yesterday [Tuesday], and we provided resumes for 40 persons for positions such as housekeepers and bellmen that they needed to hire. That has been a very, very good indicator that the economy is rebounding and employment opportunities are available.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its Article IV statement on The Bahamas this week, forecast that the jobless rate will decline further this year - from 18.1 percent in 2021 to 13.9 percent - as the economy continues to reflate. While that means close to one in seven Bahamians seeking work still cannot find it, the numbers represent a significant improvement from the 25.6 percent jobless rate at COVID’s 2020 peak when one in four were unemployed.

Mr Farquharson also pointed to tomorrow’s job fair at the Department of Labour’s Rosetta Street headquarters in Palmdale, where the Nassau Cruise Port’s main contractor, Enka, is seeking to recruit 250 Bahamian construction workers for the project’s landside work, as further signalling an improving job market.

“Just to give you an indication of how the economy is going, we’ve just sent out a flyer showing Enka, the cruise port contractor, wants to hire 250 people to work there,” he added of the fair, which starts at 8am. “People can come to the fair and register to be employed. They need all levels of construction workers.” The posts available range from architects (document control specialists) to painters, carpenters, plumbers and excavator operators.

The job fair, though, has attracted concerns from interim Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president, Leonard Sands, who questioned why Enka is only now seeking to hire Bahamian workers when it has already brought in significant Turkish labour.

However, Michael Maura, the Nassau Cruise Port chief executive, defended the use of expatriate labour on the basis that they possessed specialist skills required for the marine work that was necessary to construct and expand Prince George Wharf’s vessel berths. And he added that Island Site Development and other Bahamian contractors had also been engaged for such work.

The cruise port chief said that, with the project moving to land-based construction, more opportunities are being created for Bahamians and the skill sets they possess. “Enka is looking to bring on additional labour in support of the upland construction,” Mr Maura added.

“We have the arrivals terminal under construction, we have the marketplace retail spaces, the port square, authentic Bahamian food and beverage, retail, the coral exhibit, ground transportation. We’re about to launch construction in all those areas. Enka needs more Bahamian labour. It’s an opportunity to make themselves known and apply for those jobs, and be part of this wonderful development and tell stories to their families about how they helped make this a reality.”

Acknowledging that the cruise port’s marine works did employ Turkish labour, Mr Maura said: “The marine per works are now completed. All along we’ve said this: As we move to the upland works, the construction of buildings, that’s most definitely a talent and skill set that we have. That is why Enka is taking on this job fair.”