The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

ABACO’S labour market needs a more deliberate approach to work permits, housing and workforce training if businesses are to fill genuine skills gaps while progressively preparing Bahamians to take over those positions, a Department of Labour official said yesterday.

Eleith Davis, office manager at the Department of Labour in Abaco, said businesses seeking foreign workers should be required to demonstrate how those employees will help train Bahamians to eventually assume their roles.

She said employers must first apply to the Labour Department for a labour certificate through a notification of vacancy before a work permit can be issued, adding that training and succession planning should be incorporated into that process.

“We have to be intentional about the training,” Ms Davis said. “We have to ensure that the company submits a training plan.”

Under the approach she proposed, employers should be able to demonstrate within two to three years that a Bahamian understudy has assumed between 25 and 50 percent of the responsibilities of the foreign worker, with the work permit holder serving as a mentor.

Ms Davis said work permit renewals should also be tied to whether employers have actually followed through on their training commitments. She recalled a case involving a company on one of Abaco’s cays where she contacted a Bahamian employee identified as an understudy and asked whether she was prepared to take over the position.

“Her response was, no, she is not prepared,” Ms Davis said. “So we have to be intentional with the training.” She argued that foreign workers brought in to address genuine skills shortages should not simply remain in positions through repeated work permit renewals without evidence that Bahamians are being prepared to succeed them.

At the same time, Ms Davis identified housing as the biggest obstacle to attracting and retaining skilled workers in Abaco, warning that high rental costs can make it difficult for Bahamians and other workers to relocate or remain on the island. “Persons wanting to come back and live in Abaco, the challenge is housing,” she said.

Ms Davis suggested that companies with the capacity should consider offering rental assistance, while businesses could also lobby Government for greater housing development and rent control measures.

She added that salaries in many Abaco industries are comparable to those in New Providence, giving employers another potential advantage in recruitment, but argued that businesses must also provide opportunities for workers to assume greater responsibility and progress within their organisations.

“Once a person is able to grow in a company, they’ll tend to make Abaco their home where they purchase a home, and they grow and make it stable for them,” Ms Davis said.

Anne Lightbourn, Baker’s Bay’s director of human resources, said the workforce challenge extends beyond recruiting workers, arguing that young Bahamians entering the labour market often have potential but are not adequately prepared for workplace realities.

“It’s not just an educational issue; it’s not a business issue,” she said. “We find that a lot of the young people coming out of school, they have the talent. They are excited to get into the workforce, they have potential. But they get into the workforce and they’re not properly prepared for the realities of the workforce.”

Ms Lightbourn also highlighted the need to train managers and supervisors to develop employees rather than simply placing young workers under managers who may themselves lack the skills required to lead, coach and mentor. She said supervisory training should become a standard component of promotion, particularly if businesses expect existing employees to develop the next generation of leaders.

“If we want to ensure that our young people are productive, if we want to ensure that we are creating the next generation of leaders, then government, educational institutions, and private sector must work together,” she said.

Ms Lightbourn also called for government-supported short-term retraining programmes for workers whose existing skills do not match current labour-market demand, arguing that retraining could allow those workers to move into sectors where businesses have immediate shortages.

Deborah Pratt, of DAPS Corporate Training & Business Services, said the education system must also be reworked to better connect students with the practical requirements of the workplace. She argued that Grades 10 through 12 should provide students with greater opportunities to develop skills in areas in which they have demonstrated an interest, while internships and workplace experience should become an ongoing part of the curriculum rather than being limited to a short placement immediately before graduation.

“If we can incorporate something in the education system where the internship is ongoing, it’s a part of the curriculum where they can get work experience while they are in school, when students graduate, them going on a job that should not be their first time gaining some work experience,” Ms Pratt said.

She said employers should have a direct role in shaping job-readiness programmes so that training reflects actual vacancies and skills shortages within businesses.

Ms Pratt also pointed to soft skills, including communication, teamwork, customer service and resume preparation, as areas where some young workers require greater preparation. She said job readiness programmes must also evolve alongside technology, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly relevant to the workplace.

They all ultimately called for a more co-ordinated approach to workforce development in Abaco, rather than isolated efforts by individual employers, educators or Government agencies.

Ms Davis said Abaco should develop a dedicated workforce development plan bringing together government, educational institutions, employers and other stakeholders to identify the skills the island needs and establish how those workers will be trained.

Ms Lightbourn likewise stressed that collaboration must be intentional and continuous, while Ms Pratt warned against allowing the same workforce development concerns to remain unresolved for years.

“Five years from now, I don’t want us to be coming back here and talking about these same things again, and nothing is started,” Ms Pratt said.

She called for an overhaul of education and for training to begin immediately, while offering corporate training programmes to Abaco businesses in areas such as customer service and workforce development.