The Caribbean Community (Caricom) is forging ahead with plans to upgrade and redesign the regional Labour Market Information System (LMIS).

The LMIS includes data on the labour markets for all participating member states and would be made available in a central depository in a timely manner.

Caricom has said this information would allow for better matching of skills with available positions at the regional level, thereby better facilitating the movement of skills within the region.

In preparation for an upgraded LMIS, the Caricom Secretariat plans to host two training sessions on the LMIS for Caricom national data managers. The first session was held from September 27-28, the second session will take place on October 4-5, 2022.

The first activity is on LMIS data production. The second exercise will focus on aspects of the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX).

The secretariat stressed that the SDMX is critical to uploading and editing on the LMIS.

The first session was virtual, while the October workshop is in person in Barbados and is being facilitated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the secretariat, with financial support from the European Union.

Earlier this year, Caricom officials responsible for the LMIS decided to redesign and re-establish the platform. The task is almost complete and the LMIS is being tested with a view for operating in early 2023.

Participants attending the workshop in Barbados are expected to have completed the LMIS data production training successfully.

The LMIS will allow stakeholders in the labour market and the general public to gain easy access to key indicators of labour market performance in member states participating in the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The free movement of skills/labour includes the right of a Caricom national under Article 46 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to seek work and/or engage in gainful employment in any of the participating CSME member states, without the need to obtain a work permit in the member state in which he/she wishes to work.