By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas must treat the National Apprenticeship Programme’s launch as “a five-star priority” with almost one in five young citizens still unable to find work, a labour specialist urged yesterday.

Peter Goudie, who heads the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour division and represents the private sector on the National Tripartite Council, told Tribune Business he “hasn’t heard anything” about the start of a much-touted initiative that aims to make a significant dent in the 19 percent jobless rate among Bahamians aged between 15 to 24 years-old.

The Ministry of Labour and Public Service, in a statement issued yesterday, hailed the 8.7 percent national unemployment rate at end-June 2024 as “the lowest in 16 years” and argued it is further proof that the Davis administration’s economic policies, attraction of “more than $10bn in new investments”, and training and ‘Bahamianisation’ drive are working.

However, Mr Goudie, while joining the Government in welcoming the reduced 2024 unemployment rate, which compared to 9.9 percent at year-end 2023, said the data released yesterday by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) continues to expose deficiencies in the country’s workforce and productivity.

Bahamian youth unemployment, which stood at almost 8,000 at end-June 2024, accounts for 39.12 percent - almost 40 percent - of the 20,365-strong unemployed workforce. This means that almost two out of five jobless workers identified by the Institute’s research are aged between 15 and 24 years-old.

“The number of unemployed youths (persons aged 15 to 24) increased by 465 to 7,980 in the 2024 second quarter,” the Bahamas National Statistical Institute’s report said. “For the youths, the unemployment rate was 19 percent, representing an increase of one percentage point compared to 18 percent in the 2024 first quarter.” It also compares to a 20 percent youth jobless rate in the 2023 fourth quarter.

And the report also disclosed that Bahamian workers without any qualifications outnumber those with university degrees as a proportion of the workforce, standing at 23 percent as opposed to 22 percent. This raises potential concerns for workforce productivity and the Bahamian economy’s competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven, digital global environment.

“The data pertaining to educational attainment shows that 58 percent of the labour force completed secondary school, 22 percent completed university and 8 percent completed tertiary education,” the Institute added. “As it relates to qualifications, 28 percent of the labour force’s highest examination pass was GCE ‘O’ level/BGCSE; 22 percent completed a degree while 23 percent had no qualifications.”

Mr Goudie, in response, told Tribune Business: “First of all we are very pleased to hear that the unemployment rate is reduced, but we’ve got to do more and especially with youth unemployment. We need to get the National Apprenticeship Programme up and running.”

Legislation to facilitate this initiative, and replace the 40 year-old Apprenticeship Act, was passed by both houses of Parliament earlier this year. However, asked when it will launch, Mr Goudie replied yesterday: “I have no idea. I haven’t heard anything. Michelle Malcolm, who is in charge of it, I haven’t heard a word from here. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

“It’s huge. I would say it needs five stars, and we need to get it moving. It’s so important to the country and so important to reducing youth unemployment. I cannot emphasise that enough. That is the number one priority right now. Period.”

Youth unemployment in The Bahamas has long been stubbornly high, and successive administrations have struggled to make significant inroads into cutting it. It is not solely a Bahamas problem, with many other Caribbean nations suffering similar jobless rates among young persons, while the 15-24 year-old age demographic usually tends to have the highest unemployment rate in most countries.

The National Apprenticeship Programme is designed to help cure these ills by providing young Bahamians with workplace training, skills and certification that creates a pathway to regular, gainful employment. It is also intended to divert them from crime and gangs, giving them the means to live a meaningful, disciplined and productive existence.

“We need to get them off the streets,” Mr Goudie said. “They need something meaningful in their lives. I cannot emphasise how important this Apprenticeship Programme is. It’s hugely important. It’s up to the Government. Let’s get it moving.

“It’s going to give them income, it’s going to give them meaningful learning, they’re going to get skills and be able to have a job; a permanent job. What more do you want? This programme delivers everything that they need. It delivers the education that they need, it delivers the social skills they need, it delivers the skills training they need. It gives them everything that they need. It’ll deliver on all of that, but we need to get it moving.”

As for unqualified Bahamian workers matching or exceeding those with degrees, Mr Goudie said that was an issue for the Ministry of Education and “they’ve got to fix the school system. We’re going to be talking to them about the need to fix the school system.

“More than anything, the Chamber of Commerce wants to address that with the Ministry of Education,” he added. “We’re the ones that have to live with what we can employ, and if we cannot find the workers we have to get work permits. That’s the bottom line. We need the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Education to both stand up and make some changes. We have to put a roadblock in there and fix it.

“Nothing is easy, but there’s a fix for it. The Apprenticeship Programme is a stop gap measure. The Ministry of Education has got to change the school system and then we’ll be fixed. We need to get them all up and running.”

The 2024 first half reduction in The Bahamas’ national unemployment rate coincided with when economic activity is traditionally at its strongest due to the winter tourism season peak. The jobless rate then tends to tick back upwards in the year’s second half as the annual 5,000 high school leavers enter the workforce.

The Institute yesterday said there are some 12,980 discouraged workers, some 9,180 of whom reside on New Providence and a further 1,745 on Grand Bahama, who are available for work but are not seeking employment because they lack confidence in their job prospects. That represents a 2,180, or 20 percent, increase on the 10,800 discouraged workers recorded as at end-March 2024.

The number of employed persons in The Bahamas was also flat between the 2024 first and second quarters, standing at 213,585 in the former and dropping slightly to 213,210 in the latter. Both figures were themselves slightly less than the 214,170 employed persons recorded in the 2023 fourth quarter, which raises questions as to whether the economy and workforce are actually growing.

And the Bahamian labour force appears to have shrunk by more than 4,000 workers during the 2024 first half, dropping from 237,755 in the 2023 fourth quarter to 233,575 as at end-June 2024. The labour force includes both employed and unemployed workers.