KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr says bridging Jamaica’s productivity gap is critical to safeguarding the nation’s future.

Addressing the recent launch of three Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) toolkits at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew, Charles emphasised that “all of us have to choose efficiency.  We have to choose to be productive; it is not going to happen just by accident.”

“Productivity requires very deliberate, strategic approaches to make sure that you are achieving your goals,” he added.

Minister Charles noted that Jamaica’s labour productivity rate grew by only 0.3 per cent per annum, lagging behind other regional countries such as Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

“The gap is not due to any lack of talent; it’s not due to us not understanding technology, but it is there. Jamaica has the capacity to match and surpass what is happening across our region and that must be our goal; we must, as a collective, spare no effort to close the gap on productivity,” he said.

Charles emphasised, however, that the country has made notable improvements in other key areas, including reductions in the crime, unemployment and poverty rates.

The JPC toolkits are tailored for students, government services and businesses, to assess and improve their productivity in a measurable and user-friendly way.

“In recent years, we have made some significant strides. The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has reported that unemployment has fallen this year, now moving below 3.5 to a historic low of 3.3 per cent in Jamaica. Youth unemployment is at a record low, falling from almost 30 per cent in 2016 to 12.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

“We have taken significant steps in the right direction. But as there is more work to do, as the gap is closing, as there are new opportunities… opening up for thousands of young Jamaicans, it means that we must move the conversation to execution in terms of productivity because we are about hitting, now, that stage along the curve where all of the effort, the time and the resources have been spent to move you to that place where you now have to use what you have in a different way,” Charles said.

He further noted that the national poverty rate has been halved from 16.7 per cent in 2021 to an unprecedented low of 8.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Charles used the opportunity to underscore the distinction between being busy and being productive.

“Everybody is busy, but I wonder who is really productive. If you stop anyone and ask them, they’ll tell you, ‘I’m so busy’. But the question for us is what are you busy doing, and are you finding the way to use your time and your energy and your resources consistently to drive output… that is the difference between being busy and being productive,” he pointed out.

– JIS