PRIME Minister Dr Andrew Holness has again raised the possibility of Jamaica looking overseas for skilled workers to ease a shortage that he says could derail the country’s rebuilding and growth plans in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Responding to questions at a Recover Better Conference hosted by the Consulate General of Jamaica in New York on Thursday, Holness hinted that it was not if but when the country would need to look overseas for labour.

The one-day forum brought together members of the Diaspora and key stakeholders to mobilise investment, expertise, and partnerships in support of Jamaica’s rebuilding efforts following the Category 5 storm which devastated sections of the island last October.

Among the guests was founder and CEO of Blue Mahoe Capital David Mullings, a major housing developer in Old Harbour, St Catherine, who is now venturing into the eastern and western ends of the island.

Mullings told Holness that the shortage of skilled labour is now a major problem for developers in Jamaica.

According to Mullings, his company, which raises funds in the United States, recently completed a 700-house development valued at US$17.5 million ($2.8 billion) in Old Harbour, and is getting ready to list on the Nasdaq exchange.

Mullings said he recently met with one of the largest developers in Jamaica of affordable housing, and I said, “If we bring in more cash, more capital, what would be the one problem you would need to solve,” and he [the developer] said, “Skilled labour “.

The US-based businessman added: “No matter how much money we bring down there, and if we had all the cement, all the blocks, all the steel, all the systems, [we would still face challenges].”

In his response, Holness noted that with an unemployment rate of 3.5 per cent, Jamaica is basically at full employment.

“This is the first in our history. And this is not a one-year figure — we have been doing this now for almost a decade, so we do have a problem with the availability of labour,” said Holness.

He pointed out that despite this record low unemployment rate the participation in the labour force is about 67 per cent.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t have bodies who can work, there’s such a thing as the care economy, where some persons stay home to take care of family members, or are otherwise provided for and are not making themselves available to the labour market.

“But there are still significant numbers of persons who are unskilled and therefore are unemployed or unemployable precisely because they can’t enter the workforce. We have to bring those people in and train them,” added Holness.

He told the conference that the matter will be handled with care and that his Administration will put Jamaicans first.

“There is a big debate going on in Jamaica about us importing labour. Let me just be clear about this, that the Government has to focus on empowering our local people with skills first, but we can’t forego the economic opportunities. So, whilst we’re doing the training we may have to consider strategic and selective ways how we can allow industries to continue to produce by supplying them or allowing them to get the labour that they need.

“If that is done, there must be a programme of skills transfer. So it’s not just about them coming and staying, it’s about having them coming and having our own people trained, receive the skills, and then are able to fill [the void],” said Holness.

The prime minister told the conference that in order to build the Jamaica in which people would want to come to live, raise families, and retire, a population of 2.8 million people will not be able to do it.

“It’s not enough to build Jamaica. We have to start thinking of Jamaica more in the region of five or seven million — and we can bring people in if we have good government, if we have security, good health care, proper roads.

“That’s what we are building…but we always have to remember, first and foremost, that we build for Jamaicans so that Jamaicans can be happy, and it is in their happiness that there is the hospitality and the receptivity that we embrace people to come,” he said.

“We’re going to increase our efforts in training, but we cannot continue to miss out on the economic opportunities that we’re foregoing because we don’t have enough skilled labour in particular areas,” underscored Holness.