GraceKennedy Limited (GK), through the GraceKennedy Foundation, has partnered with The University of the West Indies (UWI) to train young Caribbean nationals using a new programme geared at developing talent needed for jobs of the future.

“The future is digital, so we will be focusing on developing skills needed for digital transformation locally,” said GK Group CEO Don Wehby.

He told the Jamaica Observer that the programme will include providing on-the-job experiences through internships and long-term employment, as well as coaching and mentorship for students.

The programme will initially be offered at The UWI, Mona campus.

Speaking at the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CBD) Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors held recently, Wehby noted that most of its staff in its newly launched Digital Factory are not from the Caribbean region. To this end, GK expects that the programme will provide the necessary digital upskilling needed for the local labour market.

“We consider this to be a major part of our corporate social responsibility as we believe that what is good for Jamaica is good for GraceKennedy,” Wehby said.

According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2020, jobs such as in data analysts and scientists, digital marketing and strategy specialists, business development professionals and digital transformation specialists will continue to increase in demand by 2022.

The report also noted that emerging skills gaps — both among individual workers and among companies’ senior leadership — may significantly obstruct organisation’s transformation management. However a comprehensive approach to workforce planning, reskilling and upskilling will be key for positive, proactive management of such trends.

GraceKennedy, which has within the last five years already invested approximately US$23.8 million in the area of technology and infrastructure, indicated that greater development in this area remains atop its primary focus for this year.

Having launched its Digital Factory in February 2021 as the main driver of its broader digital transformation programme, Wehby told the Business Observer that the initiative has received effusive support from GK’s internal team.

The factory, he said, comprises an agile, enabled team that is dedicated to delivering “cutting edge, customer-facing digital solutions” that will provide customers of GK’s food and financial services with easy access to financial services, while improving operational efficiencies.

“The Digital Factory is a centralised team within GraceKennedy and was created based on our recognition that as our customers’ needs change, we have to adapt our systems to serve them better. We also have to anticipate changes in consumer behaviour to deliver relevant solutions,” Wehby said.