Labour Market Information System officially launched

The long anticipated Labour Market Information System (LMIS) was officially launched on Thursday, April 28.{{more}}

The new information system is a pilot project for the members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and was jointly implemented by the St.Vincent and the Grenadines Department of Labour and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The project is expected to provide information which will be used in research and in the determination of market trends, according to Steve Stewart, Co-ordinator of LMIS.

“Labour is critical to the development of any economy, and once we have the data, we will be able to see where assistance is needed – for example training,” Stewart told SEARCHLIGHT.

He further explained that the government has been issuing work permits in a number of areas and that having access to this sort of labour information would mean that ministerial departments will be able to identify areas in the labour force that need to be developed.

The process of having such a system started in 2007, but Sandra Davis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Reconciliation, the Public Service, Labour, Information and Ecclesiastical Affairs, explained that it has suffered a series of setbacks.

Davis explained that on at least four occasions, computers from the Department of Labour went missing.

“We couldn’t find out what was happening, and this started to shed a dim light on the project,” she explained.

Davis said that with the help of a dedicated staff, the project was completed.

She, however, cautioned her staff that this country was testing the system and that the onus was on them to ensure that it worked properly.

Dr. Ana-Teresa Romero, Director of the International Labour Organization’s Sub-Regional Office, added that the implementation of the system was already generating interest across the OECS, particularly now that the OECS member states will be entering an economic union later this year.

“With the movement of capital and people within this space, it will be important to know what is going on within that labour market,” Romero explained.

She spoke of the potential of the system in decision making to government, employers, trade unions and job seekers.

“This is a project of no negligible significance,” Romero said.

She cautioned those who will be working on the system to supply it with information in order to have a fully effective system.

“If you do not feed it with information, you are going to have a white elephant – a symbol of embarrassment,” Romero said. (DD)