Efforts to create safe and ethical policies within the private and public sector to facilitate the recruitment of migrants was the topic of discussion on Thursday during a meeting led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston.
Supporting the government and IOM’s efforts to integrate migrants into the local workforce is the Private Sector Commission (PSC).
Chairperson of the Commission’s Human Capital Sub-Committee Luanna Persaud said private sector entities are aware of the changing landscape in Guyana as a result of the oil and gas sector.
She acknowledged that as a consequence, people are coming from abroad to take up positions and support the growing workforce here.
To this end, she told the meeting of government representatives and IOM officials that ensuring migrants are properly integrated is vital.
“Given Guyana’s transformative agenda, it is quite important that we address how we are going to build a viable labour pool to supply the demand across the various sectors.”
“We acknowledge today the efforts by the IOM to readily launch a scales gap survey in the construction sector and hope that we can use the result of this survey to make decisions that support the sector not only in the moment but in the long term,” Persaud said.
Persaud further noted that migrants possess skills that can positively impact the Guyanese society and said training and avenues for upscaling must be considered.
The PSC has collaborated with Coursera Inc. to make programmes available she further noted.
“The private sector is conscious that each person has a unique talent that can be nurtured through training and development.
“It is time for us to collaborate and dissect the labour force, so that each person can contribute toward a Grand National purpose,” Persaud said.
The IOM and the PSC have been working together since 2002. The IOM has strategic plans to support migration and has over the years worked with several countries to implement best practices.
IOM and PSC officials were joined by the Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton for a workshop to discuss labour policies for migrations emerging into the workforce.
These efforts to support migrant integration into the workforce here are funded by the United States Government, the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration trough the Pan-American Development fund and the IOM.
This workshop was orchestrated as the emerging oil and gas sector has created avenues for both the public and private sectors to expand the labour force
Regional Director for IOM, Michele Klein-Solomon said the organization is continuously working to help countries develop policies that promote safe and orderly migration.
“Our goal is to support the government in helping make sure that as Guyana transitioned to now becoming a net country of immigration with the tremendous opportunity with economic growth and development, that that cue out of Guyanese nationals,” the Regional Director said.
She said the IOM aims to bring cultural diversity and aid with expanding the economic growth of the country.
She added that labour migration also needs to be addressed with the intent of ensuring that migration takes place with ethical recruitment and meets gaps in laboring markets to protect the rights of migrants.
