THE Ministry of Labour and Social Security is seeking to expand its offerings, with plans to introduce an employment registry, aimed at matching workers with jobs.

Minister Pearnel Charles made the announcement on September 1, at the official launch of National Employers’ Month, at the offices of the Jamaica Employers Federation in St Andrew.

Charles said the proposed registry would cater to all the popular job fields and would be available from all its offices islandwide.

“If you want a helper from out of Manchester, you can advise the Ministry of Labour. We’ll have 10 helpers in a room next door to an empty room, where you will interview all 10, and you will pick the one you want and go back to Kingston,” he said.

Charles said the idea for an employment registry is part of the thrust by the ministry to go beyond just settling disputes to helping with human resource development in Jamaica.

Noting that there was not enough investment in human resources, the minister argued that this period of economic challenges was a good time to focus on skills training and certification of workers.

He emphasised that employers must be told, ‘we don’t want you to only invest in machines, we want you to invest in human capital’.

Charles noted that such training and certification would help to improve the effectiveness of the employment registry, as there would be clear standards for assessing people’s job skills and matching them with the relevant employers.

National Employers’ Month activities began on August 29, with a service at the Bethel Baptist Church in St Andrew. This year’s theme for the month is: ‘Crisis to opportunity: Endless possibilities’.

Among the activities to be held are a public forum on the topic: ‘The entertainment business and the business of entertainment: The music industry’, on September 15, at Emancipation Park in Kingston, and an Evening of Excellence and Awards ceremony at the Courtleigh Hotel on September 30.

— JIS