The government is working assiduously to upskill and provide opportunities for young people and on Friday, President Dr Irfaan Ali disclosed plans to have 2,000 persons trained for nearshoring jobs related to the oil sector.
Dr Ali addressed business people at the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber’s annual dinner and induction ceremony at the Pegasus Corporate Suites in Kingston, Georgetown, and said the oil and gas sector has many more opportunities that the government is trying to tap into.
As such, the Irfaan Ali-led government will invest US$10 million into a grant initiative to work with partners in facilitating the programmes to prepare citizens for nearshoring jobs.
Essentially, nearshoring is a process where companies shift production from overseas to nearby countries that share a market, language, or time zone.
The government will make this investment as part of a comprehensive plan to involve Guyanese living in the diaspora. So instead of outsourcing jobs to distant countries, nearshoring allows those jobs to be done here.
And with the nascent oil and gas sector, the President said it is only fitting that citizens are certified to fit into all categories of work.
“Exxon and the other partners in the consortium, they hire thousands of persons on nearshoring jobs across the world.
“We have to present the case now to Exxon and the others that they must bring those nearshoring jobs to Guyana and give Guyanese an opportunity.
“We are going to go with a matching grant initiative with our development partners, in total it will be about US$10 million. We are going to engage the best training institutions and Universities [to provide] six, eight and 12 months training, starting with 2,000 Guyanese,” President Ali said.
The President also explained that nearshoring jobs have starting salaries of US$30,000 annually. He said this will greatly boost the country’s economy and the livelihood of the people.
“We are going to invest in that for them [citizens] and then we are going to go to Exxon and say you have to bring 2,000 of those nearshoring jobs here for these 2,000 young people we have trained and certified to take up those nearshoring jobs,” Dr Ali said.
Further, he said the training will be for different skill levels to properly integrate into nearshoring jobs and the certification will be internationally-recognised to ensure employment opportunities exist.
Aside from this new venture, the President also reminded the gathering that the nascent sector has already started to provide many opportunities for people.
