Private sector wants to bring in expatriates to fill in skills gap as short term fix

The private sector should be able to bring in expatriates to work in blue collar jobs as a short term solution to the skills gap being faced in Fiji’s labour market.

This was one of the many recommendations put forward to the Minister for Employment by the private sector during a skills gap consultation.

Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation CEO Kameli Batiweti says with a number of workers moving abroad under the Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme, Batiweti says there has been a shortage of skilled and unskilled labour in the workforce.

Batiweti says discussions have been held with Minister for Employment Parveen Bala and they are currently looking at a number of options including looking abroad to fill the gap.

The CEO stresses that the Government has provided a long term solution through the provision of 5,000 technical vocational training or TVET scholarships.

However, Batiweti says the number of uptakes for the scholarship has not been upto the expectations of the private sector.

Batiweti is also calling on Fijians who are in search for work or looking to upskill themselves to take up technical vocational training as there are many opportunities to generate an income in this blue collar job sector.