By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday blamed skills mismatches in the Bahamian workforce for the Department of Labour’s inability to fill “hundreds of openings” within its database.

Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, responding to the January 2025 labour force survey which revealed a 52 percent increase in the number of jobless Bahamians since the 2024 third quarter, blamed “cyclical contractions” and “seasonal lay-offs”, plus “wider trends” in the tourism and construction industries, for the rise.

She did not provided a detailed explanation in her statement for why these factors drove the unemployment increase, but doubled down on concerns she voiced at the Abaco Business Outlook about the jib readiness and “unemployability” of many young Bahamians.

“It is not simply that jobs are unavailable,” Mrs Glover-Rolle argued. “Hundreds of openings exist in our Department of Labour database that we have been unable to fill. The real challenge lies in building and aligning skills with the opportunities on offer.

“That is why this administration has been proactive in investing in training, apprenticeships and new pathways to ensure Bahamians are ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow.” The minister pointed to the newly-created National Productivity Task Force, together with the just-launched National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP), as government initiatives designed to tackle skills gaps in the workforce.

“The National Productivity Task Force has been mandated to lay the foundation for a National Productivity Council. Its work includes creating the framework, systems and stakeholder partnerships necessary to address productivity shortfalls that limit economic participation,” Mrs Glover-Rolle added.

She also cited the Bahamas Polytechnic Accreditation & Training Hub (BPATH), which will allow high school students to obtain career certifications, the Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPAS), and the expansion of the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) to Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma as part of a wider package of measures intended to enhance the Bahamian labour market.

“Last year, our GDP continued to grow. And, in the third quarter, unemployment reached one of its lowest points since the turn of the century. We remain confident that our policies, training initiatives and investments will continue to expand opportunities and prepare Bahamians for long-term success,” Mrs Glover-Rolle said.

“We are focused on creating jobs, and we are also going a step beyond to ensure that our people have the skills, training and readiness to seize the jobs that will be created.” She added that the January 2025 labour force survey reflected “seasonal, socio-cultural and global realities” - but again did not go into detail on what these are.

Tribune Business pointed out on Wednesday that the jobless increase seemed to buck conventional economic wisdom and traditional trends. Unemployment is often at its peak during the calendar year’s third quarter due to the annual influx of high school leavers into the workforce, combined with the typical slowdown in tourism during September and October.

However, hiring and employment typically picks up again to coincide with the winter tourism season that hits its peak during the year’s first quarter and often spills over into the second. Yet according to the Institute’s survey data, The Bahamas’ unemployment rate and actual number of jobless workers actually increased despite the seasonal winter tourism pick-up.

Apart from an 8,885 increase in the number of unemployed persons between the 2024 third quarter and January 2025, the BNSI survey revealed that 65,225 persons - representing 30.4 percent of the 214,725 workers currently holding jobs - were deemed to be under-employed, “working part-time while wanting additional hours”.

The data also disclosed that 28 percent of men employed in the Bahamian workforce in January 2025, and 17 percent of women, had “no qualification” - again exposing issues related to productivity, competitiveness and company output, especially given the world’s shift to the ‘digital’ and knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.

Youth unemployment, which accounts for persons aged between 15 and 24 years-old who are looking but unable to find work, stood at 20.9 percent and was almost double the national jobless rate. This meant that more than in five Bahamians, some 6,960, were looking for work but unable to find it. And close to one in three of all Bahamian workers are deemed to be under-employed.

The number of jobless workers, meaning Bahamians looking for work but unable to find it, rose from 17,040 in the 2024 third quarter (the three months to end-September) to 25,925 in the 2025 first quarter. The Opposition asserted that The Bahamas had lost 5,500 jobs between the 2024 third quarter and 2025 first quarter due to the employed labour force shrinking from 220,975 to 214,725 over that period.

Mrs Glover-Rolle, and the Ministry of Labour and Public Service, in their statement conceded that The Bahamas’ national unemployment rate had soared from “an over 20-year low” of 7.2 percent in the 2024 third quarter to 10.8 percent in the 2025 first quarter. The minster sought to argue that the data, now some six months’ old, did not reflect current labour market conditions.

The ministry also asserted that labour force participation had increased from 74.8 percent in late 2024 to 76 percent in early 2025. “This means more Bahamians entered the job market and are now actively seeking work. While this has resulted in an increase in the unemployment rate, it also signals confidence in the economy and an increased desire among Bahamians to engage in the workforce,” it added.