The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Department of Labour’s revamped and modernised Employment Exchange is expected to go live on July 1, its director said yesterday.

Robert Farquharson told Tribune Business that the project was 80 per cent complete. “We have already paid for the hardware and the software,” he said. “The software is expected to be installed by the first week in June.

“We have training for all of the staff at the Department of Labour at the end of June, with the full implementation of the new software by July 1. That’s the anticipated date.”

Mr Farquharson added: “It will cause the employment exchange to be more responsive to the needs of the public. It will allow persons to remotely upload resumes. They won’t have to visit the exchange any more.”

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in a report on a planned $20 million initiative to overhaul the Bahamas’ job training and matching systems, said the Department of Labour’s ‘placement’ success rate was exceptionally low compared to the regional average.

While the Bahamas was able to find work for one out of every 50 registrants, the Latin American and Caribbean average for similar employment exchanges was a placement rate slightly greater than one in every four applicants.

The IDB also revealed that the Department of Labour was catching job vacancies from just 12 per cent of listed Bahamian businesses, adding that this ratio paled when compared to the 20-40 per cent of companies captured by European Employment Exchanges “at a similar stage of development”.

The IDB noted that the Employment Exchange’s strengthening was critical in ensuring a system that facilitates better employment opportunities for everyone.

Mr Farquharson said yesterday that the National Tripartite Council is looking at making a recommendation to the Government for the implementation of national productivity legislation, and creation of a National Productivity Council.

“We are also looking at other amendments to take government out of the strike vote issue, and we are in discussions with the International Labour Organisation on that,” added Mr Farquharson.