Stakeholders need to narrow skills gap for future jobs, report finds.
The recent Resembid Labour Market Survey predicts a vibrant jobs market in the short-term, which will need a diverse range of skills – especially semi-skilled positions. Largest employers are likely to be those in hotels and tourism, ICT and solar photovoltaic industries, accounting for three quarters of the total, the report says. There’ll also be new jobs in financial services along with professional, scientific, and technical sectors.
But there is also a misalignment between supply and demand which will require a big effort from the Government, business sector, educational institutions, and other stakeholders before it is set right. Without such an effort, employers who are already concerned about the unavailability of Caymanians for their positions can’t expect any meaningful change, the report says.
The report recommends that all key stakeholders make a much bigger effort to put strategies in place that will get Caymanians interested in, and prepared for future job demands. Much more dialogue with employers is needed to identify the exact skills that will be needed while ensuring greater levels of job readiness.
In view of this big gap between skill sets and available Caymanians policymakers should plan for gradual change – a sustainable transition aligning skill sets and the kind of jobs that will be available – going into the future.
Read the full report, found here