Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Economy (March 6, 2005)
The red hot jobs
The supply is still way below demand in a fairly
low-key job market, but there are some job positions that recruiters have been
advertising heavily, as private companies particularly reposition for open
trade.
In a labour market where approximately 140,000
persons are hunting employment, only 21,572 jobs came onto the market in a
20-month span up to the end of December, an average of 1,079 jobs per month.
Of significance, is an indication that firms have
been boosting their management core, company managers and directors were in
heaviest demand, topping the list of advertised vacancies.
"These vacancies were found primarily in
private sector companies such as banks, hotels, tour companies, fast food
restaurant, retail and factory outlets and mobile telephone dealers," said
the Labour Market Information System, in its latest analysis of the job market.
"In the case of directors and human resource
managers, the likely options existed in selected government entities."
The vacancy count is done quarterly and
analysed by the LMIS, a division of the Ministry of Labour, which hosts an
online Electronic Labour Exchange that links jobseekers to recruiters.
Though company managers only accounted for just
under 12 per cent of the total, the 2,519 advertised vacancies ran significantly
ahead of the educator category's 2,135 available jobs.
Marketing and sales representatives were third
in the red hot category with 1,843 positions.
In the last review quarter, October to December
2004, the market generated 5,639 new jobs, which maintained the red hot rankings
of directors/managers, educators and sales reps, respectively.
Teachers remain in high demand both by
overseas recruiters and by local schools who often have to replenish staff who
take up jobs abroad.
"The number of vacancies in this field
usually peaks between July to September each year, but throughout the year the
demand for secondary level teachers usually remain consistently high," said
the agency.
Further analysis indicates that teachers of
Mathematics and English were in greatest demand - some 27 per cent of requested
teachers - followed by those teaching Spanish, Physics and Information
Technology.
In the overall analysis of vacancies, the numbers
change slightly when the figures are assessed by employment categories, and it
also shifts the rankings slightly.
The management category - broadened to
management support and supervisory personnel - still dominated but there were
3,087 positions filled in the 20-month period.
Marketing/sales/ distribution takes second place
in the employment category, with 2,610 jobs, to take a slight lead over
education and training's 2,567.
"Management careers are at the top of the
occupational ladder, demanding post-secondary education," said the LMIS.
"Persons vying for those occupations usually
enter the market with diplomas, degrees and even post-graduate
qualifications."
They also tend to have at least five years
experience, particularly senior managers.
In fact, Sunday Finance's assessment of the LMIS
figures indicate that, on strict numbers count, more jobs are emerging for
qualified professionals/senior officials in the market than any other
occupational grouping.
But it is also the category in which the
majority of work permits are granted.
These jobs often go to overseas manpower
"where suitable qualified manpower is not available from the local
workforce," said the labour exchange. As such the issue of work permits
'becomes a proxy' for the measure of unavailable expertise.
Over the 2004 calendar year, some 3,863 such
permits were issued, approximately 40 per cent of which were renewals.
The professional grouping represented 3,017 or 78
per cent of all work permits granted.
Up to the end of March 2004, advertised
professional vacancies numbered 5,916; nine months later, at the end of
December, the figure was 10,115.
Managers accounted for 30.5 per cent of the
grouping.
Additionally, the category eclipses by more
than 100 per cent, its closest rival in numbers, that is, service workers and
shop assistants who represented 4,759 of advertised vacancies.
In the marketing category, "a significant
percentage of these vacancies emerged for persons engaged in the sale of
pharmaceutical and medical products," said LMIS
The labour market analysis does not attempt to
map trends, but is instead a snapshot of the job market and an indicator of
where jobs are likely to open up.
Note that in the final review quarter, October to
December, most jobs opened up for service workers (1,521) followed by
professionals (1,469) and clerks (1,120).
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