Labour exchange opens in Belize City
At the centre of any government’s economic programme is the desire to provide jobs for its citizens. And while job creation is crucial, so too is the ability to match the pool of available skills with the demands of the market. Today in Belize City a new project was unveiled by the Ministry of Labour that hopes to make that process more efficient.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The centre promises to benefit both employers and job seekers. It has been designed to allow interested parties to access the information they need free of cost.
Valdemar Castillo, Minister of Labour
“We need to help employers to seek workers quick. We find that some employers don’t have tome to wait for a week or a month, they need somebody quick. So with this kind of system then, that employer will know the different qualifications that are registered and he can then be able to get somebody quick. At the same time, such a system can assist the employer by saving some money. He doesn’t have to pay for advertisements and so forth, because he has all the information at the centre. At the same time, the worker can know where to go for employment, because as it is at this moment, the worker would have to be looking around, perhaps reading the newspapers to see if there are vacancies. But with such a centre this person can come in and get information.
Job seekers are being encouraged to come into the centre and register so their names and resumes can be entered into the system. In addition, you will be able to get whatever labour information you may need.
Valdemar Castillo
“At the same time both employer and employee, or job seekers will be able to get information on the labour market. You also find out that many employers are not up to mark with the labour laws. This is a way whereby they can be informed, labour market information.”
The labour Market Information and One Stop Centre will be open during normal working hours from Mondays to Fridays. Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
The Ministry of Labour received assistance in the project from the United States government, which provided the software, equipment and training.
