The release of data identifying the number and types of work permits applied for in The Bahamas has been requested from the Department of Immigration by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), as it seeks to establish a "gap assessment" to encourage Bahamian employment.
Chester Cooper, chairman of the BCCEC, said that the organization has agreed to collaborate with the Department of Immigration to conduct this assessment which would help guide "company, sector and government training".
"One of the areas of concern that we have discussed with the Department of Immigration is developing a program to address the skills gaps in our economy. We have requested that they release to the public the number of work permits being applied for in each category. This will not only be used by businesses in planning for resource gaps, but also as a guide for students who may be in college or Bahamians living abroad who may wish to train for available gaps," said Cooper.
His comments came after the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) indicated that it is concerned about a "huge talent gap" in The Bahamas, which it indicated is set to be further exposed in 2014 by the forthcoming demand for management level staff by developments such as Baha Mar.
The BHTA is putting on a
forum addressing leadership and succession planning on December 5, specifically to focus on how Bahamian businesses can best prepare to respond to the "unprecedented changes coming to the workforce at the management levels over the next year as a number of major developments undergo massive recruitment campaigns to attract top talent".
Like Cooper, James Smith, CFAL chairman and former minister of state for finance, threw his support behind a more detailed analysis of the Bahamian labor market, saying on Monday it should be possible to have a better and more useful picture of what skills exist and where there may be gaps.
However, he said he would be suspicious that hiring by Baha Mar or other developments coming on stream could put significant pressure on the economy in terms of a "management void" without more detailed analysis given current levels of unemployment.
"The Bahamas is not a very large place and one ought to be able to get fairly good estimates on what's out there."
Smith noted that a job opening at CFAL recently attracted a large number of people with a great range of qualifications.
"Based on the applications we were receiving I would hazard a guess that there's a lot of people out there with management level experience who are searching for jobs. I would hazard it should be subject to more quantitative analysis," added Smith.

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