POOR treatment, pay disparity, and prejudice faced during the COVID- 19 vaccine mandate have been cited among some of the top reasons affecting participation in the formal labour force.

The cries of a shortage of skilled workers have been echoed across the island since the pandemic eased and employers began searching to refill positions. Sectors mostly affected include manufacturing, agriculture, retail, and business process outsourcing.

However, when the Jamaica Observer went searching for people who are not actively participating in the formal employment system to find out what was the reason for their lack of interest, we found that those we reached actually had qualifications and just chose not to participate in formal work. The Business Observer discovered that another subset of the missing workforce has pivoted to working digitally. When the Business Observer spoke with a few individuals not participating in the workforce, they did not shy away from explaining why they will never return. They, however, asked that their identities be concealed.

A 34-year-old male from Manchester who has been unemployed for the past three months blames poor treatment for his lack of participation.

“Mi always quit, when I was working … I wasn’t getting my incentives.”

A cut in salary was also cited as a factor that was discouraging him from seeking formal employment again. For him, the disrespect faced even while working in the hotel industry led him to be completely deterred from trying to work formally. “Me rather go cut grass with all a mi subject dem,” he said in frustration.

The young man is a certified practical nurse and a certified psychiatric aide. In the past he sent out countless resumes and applications, a task which he said became a tiring process for him.

“I have sent applications to each of the businesses I applied to more than five times. It’s really like you have to know someone in those businesses to get through,” he opined.

Nepotism was cited as the reason for the next person who has been unemployed since the pandemic. Thirty-five-year-old “Sasha” says she will not be returning to formal employment.

“A lot of times people get looked over or ignored because you are not friends with a particular manager, supervisor, or head of department. Sometimes people get promotion because they are sleeping around with their superiors.”

In addition, she describes corporate work as unfair, requiring her to take on additional tasks without being compensated in order to keep a good reputation within the company.

“This leads to burnout and frustration as well as a discouragement to other colleagues as you feel as if you have to do unsolicited favours to get a foot forward or be recognised.”

According to labour relations software company LaborSoft, nepotism can harm a company (or country) by destroying engagement and productivity, harming employee retention, and it can even invite lawsuits.

Another reason she cited for being uninterested in returning is pay disparity.

“Pay range is not openly shared by HR [human resource] or supervisors about roles. Neither are they paying what the market is now offering to their old workers. Old workers in organisations are overworked and paid the least.” On the other hand, she says, “You have some teams who are overcompensated and receive high commission and require basic academic qualifications.”

She has been participating in formal employment for 16 years, has an associate degree and pending a bachelor’s degree. After the pandemic hit, she, like many other employees, faced harsh treatment and prejudice for opting out of taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I resigned, and if I didn’t resign I would have been placed on leave without pay until I was vaccinated. I know persons who are still on leave without pay currently.”

Since then, she has chosen to go the route of working in the digital space, working from home, which she prefers after being exposed to that type of work during the pandemic.

When workers were asked to return to the physical work space, that also seemed like a stressful and unnecessary task.

“I could understand if an employee’s performance has dropped; however, if the performance level didn’t drop, why mandate that we have to work in office when we were working online for over a year? I prefer working online instead of in office.”

She pointed out that it also allows her to spend more time with family and helps to protect her mental health.

Her story is similar to that of another 27-year-old woman, a mother of one and a high school graduate who is currently unemployed because her device is no longer working. During the pandemic, she was unsatisfied with the jobs in her area. She began looking online and discovered she can work from home and save money, and the pay was better.

She was earning a salary of $60,000 in formal employment and now she says her income has more than tripled.

“From work from home I could earn up to $200,000 for the month. That’s a big difference.”

She currently works in customer service for international companies and says she does not see herself returning to formal employment.

Overall, it seemed the working age population of skilled workers who were not participating in illicit activities were somewhat engaged in work in a digital space. As the country pushes to become a digital society more people are learning how to use it to their advantage and choosing to work on their own time, which required less physical energy and rewarded more salary.