Guyana short more than 100,000 workers – Foreign Secretary

With Guyana’s rapid transformation underway, thanks to the oil and gas sector which is fuelling other sectors of the economy, the country is experiencing a labour deficit that is now more than 100,000, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said Monday.

As a result, there is an aggressive drive to get Guyanese abroad to return home.

Persaud, in an interview with the News Room, said many companies and sectors, particularly construction, have “sought to have recruitment done locally but could not find either the number but also the type of skills that they need.”

To counter this, the Government of Guyana, in collaboration with the private sector, recently held a Job Fair in New York targeting Guyanese there. Various industry leaders and stakeholders participated to facilitate connections and collaboration.

The Foreign Secretary said, “…this is a very unique opportunity for us to go to the global Guyanese diaspora to tap those skills to come and to engage and work with these companies…” rather than importing foreign labour or non-nationals.

A portal was made available to interested members of the diaspora and Persaud said hundreds have already logged in and submitted their information which will be shared with the companies. Those companies will now engage individuals they are interested in, whether to get them to work remotely or to re-migrate to Guyana.

Persaud further noted the government is looking to replicate a model of the job fair in neighbouring countries based on the needs of companies. He said the government is willing to provide support for companies in reaching out to the diaspora.