By Shenia Roberts
Journal Staff Writer
During her contributions at the House of Assembly’s weekly gathering on Wednesday, Golden Gates Member of Parliament and Minister of Labour and Public Service Pia Glover- Rolle, highlighted the progress the country has made in reducing the unemployment numbers.
Minister Glover- Rolle referenced the recent findings of The Bahamas National Statistical Institute’s (NSI) quarterly Annual Labour Force Survey 2024 released to the public on Monday.
According to the data collected, unemployment in The Bahamas has hit its lowest level since 2008. During the first half of 2024 unemployment rates reflected 8.7%, a 1.2% decrease since 2023, this record being the lowest recorded unemployment rate in 16 years.
In light of these new findings, Minister Glover Rolle congratulated the Davis administration saying, “this is the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years and it is proof if any is needed that the efforts of this Davis administration to bring billions of dollars in new investments to support local businesses to develop pro-growth policies and to enact key labour reforms and initiatives is working.”
She went on to highlight that fact that many people are being connected through different initiatives implemented by the Department of Labour and by extension The Bahamas Government. She said, “thousands of people have been linked with employers through labour block job fairs and labour on campus fairs.” In addition, she highlighted other initiatives namely, The National Training Agency, the upcoming National Apprenticeship Program and partnerships with local tertiary education institutions like University of The Bahamas and Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute. She also noted that they are also in conversations with international institutions to provide a wider range of educational opportunities.
Glover-Rolle explained that although she is happy with the improvements made thus far, she remains concerned with the number of discouraged workers. She explained that the government must now make this demographic a priority saying, “I must note that the rate of discouraged workers remains too high and we want to bring them back into the workforce.” She explained that the aim is to ensure all Bahamians have the opportunity to make a liveable wage.
Additionally, she added that, “we (the Government) also want to continue to bring the unemployment rate lower,” and explained that “both of these goals can only be accomplished through training and education.” Minister Glover- Rolle emphasized that to enhance the employability of segments of our population that are not unemployable we must provide training and certification opportunities. She said, “we can develop effective professional development, soft skills development, workforce readiness programs and certificates courses to raise the employability levels of our workforce.”
Furthermore, she informed the public that the first draft of The Labour Legislative Reform White Paper has been completed. She also advised that “it has been submitted now I can announce, the second draft will be ready in a few weeks.”
In her closing statements the Minister expressed that The Bahamas is now leading the way in the region in labour and will continue to make advancements with the collaboration of the Government and interested stakeholders.
