By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The newly-launched apprenticeship initiative is designed to provide Bahamian companies with well-trained, certified employees at no cost to themselves as it bids to take persons “off the streets”.

Peter Goudie, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour division head, told a Rotary Club of West Nassau meeting that the private sector will be incentivised to join the transformed national apprenticeship programme through the Government covering all related expenses for the first year.

Mr Goudie, who is also a member of the National Tripartite Council, the body that handles all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, said employers frequently complain they cannot find the “right people” to hire but now a pool of trained persons will become available to them via the apprenticeship initiative.

He added: “In the first year, government’s going to pay hundreds of thousands, but the employers are not going to have a cost at all. They’re going to have someone learning in their establishment, and if they do a really good job then they’re going to have a really good employee. You get a certified, trained employee to work in your business.

“It always comes up in our surveys for the Chamber. They are all screaming: ‘We can’t find the right people’. Well, we’ll find them for you. We will get training for them, get them certified for you.” Mr Goudie said the apprenticeship initiative has a $5m per year budget for the first two years, and will fund the salaries of apprentices for their inaugural 12 months. Once past this mark, employers will share the salary costs.

He added: “We’ve already started working on it, but we will officially start working on it. And we have a budget of $5m a year for the next two years. In the initial year, the Government has agreed to pay salaries and premium for all the apprentices. After that, the cost will start being shared between government and employers.”

Mr Goudie explained the programme will initially target unemployed youth. There are 100 persons ready to start their apprenticeship training, while another 100 will go through a programme to acquire soft skills, mathematics and English so they can meet the criteria to start job training.

He said: “An apprentice will be someone who is at least 16 years-old or older, and they must be out of school. We’re not calling people out of school. The person must be a Bahamian citizen or permanent resident with the right to work in The Bahamas and certified fit by a medical practitioner.

“That is who we’re targeting. And we’re really targeting, initially, the youth unemployment group. We have already lined up 100 people who we’re going to start right in on the programme, and another, at least 100, who will go through a programme.

“There are certainly people who don’t meet the criteria with their education, background and their marks. So we will put them through a programme that will give them social skills, and then we will also concentrate on a short, but very intense, programme on math and English.”

Mr Goudie said the apprenticeship initiative will initially target the maritime industry and expand to other sectors such as information and communications technology (ICT), hospitality and construction.

He added: “To start, the industry we’re targeting is the marine industry, which has thousands of jobs available. Then target other work sectors, such as ICT, hospitality, building. The building trade needs lots of people, especially in the Family Islands. And, of course, they’re not going to be left out, and neither are the disabled

“The apprentices are going to be working 80 percent of the time, and 20 percent in school getting certified training, so they will have an actual professional certificate that says that they have passed the requirements. When they are finished, they will have certificates that say: ‘I can do this work’.”

Mr Goudie said the apprenticeship programme is also working with the Department of Labour and the Department of Immigration to determine the industries that apply for large numbers of work permits so that it can find and train Bahamians to fill those roles. He added that the main goal of the initiative is to “get Bahamians employed and off the streets”.

“Through the Chamber of Commerce, we’re going to be coming to businesses. We’ve already gone to some businesses that set up our original target for the 200. But then we will be coming to businesses who are going to be in our target,” Mr Goudie said.

“We’re working with the Department of Laboor and Immigration to determine how many work permits have we got in certain sectors, and see where do we need Bahamians to get this filled. So, that’s our target. We’re trying to get Bahamians employed and off the streets, out of trouble and being pillars in the society. That’s our main incentive.”