In 2013, the World Bank estimated that about 85 per cent of college and university graduates in Jamaica eventually migrate with Jamaica ranked as the second-highest nation of brain drain in the world.

The shocking revelation undoubtedly forms a big part of the island’s workforce problem and ultimately, Jamaica’s growth trajectory.

Interestingly, there is no shortage of labour in Jamaica, however, employers complain that educated and skilled workers are hard to come by.

In 2020, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) reported that only 9.8 per cent of employed men have a university degree compared to 21.3 per cent of women in the employed labour force.

The Statin report also revealed that about 462,400 or 68 per cent of men in the employed labour force have no formal qualifications. In addition, the survey also found that 266,100 or 48 per cent of females had no formal qualifications.

The report stated that the respondents, however, “may have some years of primary and secondary school education or vocational training”.

Please see chart below.

This data inform a recent call echoed by the president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Ian Neita to liberalise the labour market to allow employers to source skilled labour from overseas in instances in which their inability to source workers locally is limiting their ability to grow.

In a Jamaica Observer column, he stressed, “It is clear, though, that such a policy must be accompanied by a laser-focused drive to better align the nation’s education and training institutions with the current and projected requirements of the business community.”

Neita further explained that “more than a few Jamaican firms are proudly on record affirming that Jamaican workers, properly capacitated, are able to perform at world-class levels.” At the same time, he said “quite a number of Jamaican firms are also on record complaining that far too many people are still entering the labour market with minimal preparedness for the realities of the workplace, including deficiencies in basic competencies, such as literacy and numeracy. The two realities, sadly, coexist.”

In the meantime, the Jamaican Economy Panel (JEP) has indicated that brain drain could be a result of the current high levels of emigration.

JEP panellists noted that “according to the PIOJ’s Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (ESSJ) 2019, annual net population growth decreased from around 10,000 people in 2010 to a negative number since 2017. The primary cause for this is a significant net outflow of people through migration, reaching around 18,000 people in 2020. Furthermore, those most likely to leave are of child-bearing age and often the most educated or skilful. The migration of the most highly educated (or those with the most significant potential) could harm Jamaican growth potential, as was recognised in the 2017 policy on migration.”

To that end economist Wendel Ivey, who is also a JEP panellist, said, “Economic progress in Jamaica has been hampered by low or declining productivity growth over the last three decades. This has created a situation where the country is unable to adequately absorb, utilise and compensate Jamaican talent. To this end, economic opportunities outside the borders of the country seem to have become increasingly attractive. Facilitating sustained improvement in productivity growth may prove to be a worthy strategy to remedy brain drain and many other challenges faced by Jamaica.”