CALL TO EMPLOYERS FROM MINISTER COLIN JORDAN

Minister of Labour Colin Jordan is calling on employers to give young Barbadians more opportunities to enter the workforce, warning that high youth unemployment poses “serious social and economic consequences.”

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement meeting for the Job Start Plus Programme on Wednesday, Jordan highlighted the sharp gap between national and youth unemployment rates, noting that in 2023, “there were 14 000 young people in the labour force. Of that number, 21.4 per cent were unemployed… juxtapose that with the national unemployment number… just over 7.5 per cent.”

The Job Start Plus Programme, launched in 2019, supports 16 to 24-year-olds in gaining work experience to improve employability. Jordan said too often young people are asked for experience they have no chance to acquire: “we ask them for 12 months of experience, but nobody has given them the opportunity to get one day of experience.”

He stressed that while government has a role, the burden cannot fall on the State alone, urging businesses to take responsibility and resist the tendency to criticise rather than support youth.