By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Government was yesterday urged to facilitate greater growth in private sector employment, with a governance reformer warning: "We can't be stagnant in our thinking."

Robert Myers, a principal with the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG) told Tribune Business the Minnis administration appeared to be taking the right approach to reducing the burden on the public sector but encouraged the government to create an environment to facilitate growth in private sector employment.

The new administration has implemented a public sector hiring freeze, decided not to renew contracts for emoluments exceeding $100,000 annually and implemented a crackdown on the number and usage of government vehicles. The Minnis administration has also let go a number of temporary hires recruited just prior to the general election.

"I think that's the right approach," said Mr Myers.

"I guess I am saddened by the fact that political parties chose to make this a political issue because the fact is that we have to start acting as responsible Bahamians if we are truly going to see our country succeed. It's disappointing to see it turn into a political football. The government should expand where and when needed but to do so without accountability and is just irresponsible."

According to the result of the latest Labour force survey, conducted between April 24th and April 30th, the country's unemployment rate is now at 9.9 percent - a 1.7 percent decrease from the results of October's survey. The decline came as 7,770 people gained employment while there was a decrease of 3,485 unemployed people. No sector experienced a greater increase in employment than the civil service. During the budget debate in May, the Minnis administration decried the substantial rise in civil service employees in the lead-up to the election and has pledged to take a much more conservative approach to public sector hiring

Mr Myers argued the government, while reducing public sector hires, must facilitate more growth in private sector employment.

"We have to get those jobs in the private sector. There is a dire need for education and workforce development. The Bahamas has got to empower our people to power our businesses and our country. Youth unemployment remains a challenge and we have to focus on how to get them productive and what we can do to incentivise the private sector and entrepreneurs to be more productive. If we can't get the youth productive they are going to be a horrible drain on our society and we can't afford that."

According to the Labour force survey, the unemployment rate among youth (15-24) remained "considerably higher than any other age group" although "there was a slight decline in the rate from 25.1 per cent in November 2016 to 24.1 per cent."

Mr Myers called for improvements in the ease of doing business.

"We have to remove some of the complexities to doing business in this country," he added.

"We have to improve the ease of doing business. The harder it is to do business, the less likely people will want to get into business or stay in business. We have to start seeing the unions working together as opposed to against the private sector. The unions play a major part in this. They have to work with labour to improve productivity. My biggest plea is that we put our political differences aside and focus on how to improve our product. We have to get the socio-economic boat back afloat. We have got to move those jobs from the public to the private sector."