Employability Project (Barbados)

Aim:

The Employability Project is a targeted intervention that seeks to demonstrate the benefits of supporting affected workers during this COVID-19 period and building partnerships to ease their reinsertion in the labour market in the aftermath of COVID-19.

While persons whose employment has been affected by the pandemic will receive unemployment benefits, these benefits will only be for a period of time. During the period of unemployment, these persons can be encouraged to acquire new skills and knowledge through the Project that would enhance their employability once the economy is re-energized.

Key components:

• Training activities – online training in three areas:

1. Core/soft skills;
2. Occupational safety and health; and
3. Entrepreneurship

•   Partnership for employment – building partnerships with employers’ and workers’ organizations.

The MLSP will work in tandem with the NTI, which will provide the platform for the delivery of the training.

Whilst the training will be foundational, the trainees will be provided with information on how and where they can participate in more long-term training that can lead to certification through any one of the following agencies: 

• Small Business Association, (SBA); 
• Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, (SJPI); 
• Barbados Vocational Training Board, (BVTB); 
• Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, (YES); 
• Barbados Institute for Management and Productivity, (BVTB); 
• Career Development Institute, (CDI)

The MLSP will liaise with its tripartite partners (employers and workers) to encourage the promotion and implementation of this training.

The MLSP will continue its discussion with the Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) Council and with other stakeholders to enhance the content of the modules.

Selection criteria: 

• Males and Females 
• Persons have completed secondary school 
• Persons are currently unemployed
• Persons currently receiving unemployment benefits as a result of being laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Target number of trainees:

The NTI’s platform can accommodate 2,000 registrants at any one time. Given the astronomical numbers of unemployed persons as result of COVID-19, persons will be encouraged to register and participate in the training.

Interested persons can enroll at various times during the length of this pilot project.

At the end of the project, it is envisaged that over three thousand (3,000) persons would have participated in the training.

For more information:

Visit the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Barbados

 

The Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations (MLSP) and the National Training Institute (NTI) in collaboration with the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean have developed a pilot project to enhance employability of persons who have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.