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Praise has been heaped
on the Barbados Employment and Career
Counselling Service (BECCS) for its efforts at
facilitating retrenched public sector workers, and all unemployed Barbadians,
as they search for available opportunities.
It came today from
Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Colin Jordan, as he
addressed the start of a series of training seminars, coordinated by BECCS and
staff of the Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS) Programme. The series
form part of Government’s programme to retool, empower, retrain and enfranchise
persons separated from the public service.
Acknowledging that the
training represented a commitment by Government, under the Barbados Economic
Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Programme, Minister Jordan said it should be
seen as a chance for participants to broaden their skills, or to explore new
possibilities for employment and/or self-employment.
He also added that it
spoke to the development of a Barbadian citizen who could operate globally, but
remain rooted in Barbadian values, a similar concept borne out in Barbados’
HRDS Programme.
Noting that BECCS was
not only a place where one came to get unemployment cards stamped, he said: “A
person who has lost a job is in a different place mentally from a person who is
sitting behind a desk and who has a job…. BECCS is an organization or
department which is there to assist you in the transition, making sure that you
are in a place where you can be re-employed.”
Stressing it was
important to find jobs which they loved and could do well, the Labour Minister
stated: “Whether you take an assessment to discover your true passion, or just
have a discussion with the counsellors, you can be guided into finding that
passion. School leavers, unemployed youth and adults, those who feel themselves
to be under-employed, not operating at your full potential, as well as those
who are gainfully employed who want to transition from one job to another or
from one career to another, can benefit from the services of this department.
“This guidance includes giving you the tools to choose which type of training that will help you achieve your goals. Sometimes your circumstances may dictate that you may need to find a job immediately and delay studying. Job placement services offered by BECCS can help you in that area as well.”
Pointing out that
BECCS engaged with employers daily in an effort to place persons in vacancies,
he said a move was afoot to have the department place such services online, so
that employers could list vacancies to facilitate job search and employees
could place their CVs on the website as well. “All of the services of
this department are free at the point of delivery,” he said.
Emphasizing that BECCS
worked also to find employment for persons outside of Barbados, the Minister
said this was done through its Liaison Service located in Canada and the USA,
where they were able to secure opportunities in agriculture, the hotel sector
and the service industries and many others.
Disclosing that some
teaching opportunities were about to be presented to Barbadians, Mr. Jordan
said he was familiar with the association of the agency with the Farm Labour
Programme, but BECCS and its search for overseas opportunities was much more
than the Farm Labour Programme.
He noted: “Employers
at The Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Canada, for example, have just employed 30
Barbadians on a one-year contract, and a similar contract is set to start later
this year for workers to join the JW Marriott Hotel in Canada. In addition,
interviews for 30 Meat Cutters to reside and work in Canada are going to take
place sometime later this year. Later this month, interviews will be conducted
here in this same building by a recruiting firm from the United Kingdom (UK)
and they will be seeking to employ nurses throughout the UK.”
Minister Jordan said
the services at BECCS also extend to preparing jobseekers to interface with the
world of work, and he noted that apart from assistance with job selection, job
search, curriculum vitae, interview techniques and getting to the job, staff
provided orientation to allow for an understanding of new employment and
environment.
He expressed
appreciation to the management and staff at BECCS and the vocational
counsellors who interface with clients, noting that their work was done in
spite of tight budgets and reduced staff.