In an effort to exploit the skills gap within the services industry, the Global Services Sector (GSS) Project — an initiative executed by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) — on Tuesday, launched its GSS Apprenticeship Programme, which is being lauded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the first of its kind within the Caribbean region.

“I am very proud to say that the dynamic of the programme between the private and public sector collectively co-creating something, not only for the benefit of the [services] industry, but for the current and future workers, is something that we don’t see very often,” declared Fernando Pavon, IDB’s labour markets specialist at the programme’s launch at Jampro’s business auditorium in New Kingston.

“The industry is setting the base of job- readiness curricula that focuses on soft skills, social-emotional skills, and higher cognitive skills. It is the first publicly-funded national digital skills curricula in the region. [IDB] is actually using this as a success story in other countries now as we speak, in such a way that they’re trying to learn more about Jamaica,” he continued.

Last year, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Nigel Clarke and the IDB’s chief of operations, Adriana La Valley, signed a loan agreement of US $15 million to undertake the skills development for the GSS Project.

The GSS Apprenticeship Programme, a component of the GSS Project, is a 12-month training initiative that will run over a 4-year period, upskilling 100 apprentices per year, a total of 400 placements.

The programme centres a comprehensive educational and skills development system, employed to support the growth and expansion of Jamaica’s business environment, specifically within the GSS industries. This includes the business processing outsourcing, knowledge processing outsourcing and information technology-enables services sectors.

One component stipulates that HEART Trust NTA, Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, Global Services Skills Board (GSSB) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will give focus to areas concerning skills development.

According to Pavon, in the drive to keep up with the fourth industrial revolution, there is a fair amount of lessons to be learnt along the way, and that in itself creates success stories.

“[Jamaica] has a model right here that others are trying to replicate. It’s not about what the Bank is saying anymore, but it’s what your peers here in Jamaica are telling [other countries] how they did it. It’s not what Jamaica has done already, that’s great but we want to know where it’s heading because it’s heading somewhere. That speaks very highly of the industry and word has passed along”.

GSS Project programme director Marjorie Straw told the Jamaica Observer that while the apprenticeship programme in its first year will focus on supervisory management training, the direction of the programme each year is dependent on stakeholders in the industry.

She further added that the loan is almost split 50 per cent for component one, which is focusing on strengthening the skills development framework, and component two, which is focused on the value proposition to investors locally and internationally.

Diane Edwards, Jampro president indicated that the programme is like an incentive to attract local and international investors.

“We think that honing the skills of our young people is the most important thing we can do to impact Jamaica’s future growth, it’s part of what we will use to attract companies to come to Jamaica. There is a global war for talent as it is one of the big drivers of investment across the world and its by showing investors that they can find the talent that they seek here in Jamaica,” she said.

The GSS Apprenticeship Programme is implemented under the direction of the GSSB and is being managed through the competitiveness fund, with direct oversight by the Project Execution Unit at Jampro.