THE Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA) of the Ministry of Labour yesterday launched its interactive online registration programme which cost approximately $5M for the preparation of the computer hardware and software.
The new programme allows for business persons to register their vacancies without leaving their offices by posting information on the website, www.crma-gy.com. And unemployed persons searching for jobs can visit the site in Guyana and from any part of the world, and send in their particulars.
“We’re looking at connectivity for every man, woman and child in Guyana,” Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir said of the Guyana Government during his brief remarks at the SIMAP building, Camp Street.
Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford offered that government is not responsible for employing everyone living in Guyana. Per capita, she said, Guyana has the largest public service in the world, with over 16,000 government workers.
According to her, government has been trying to maintain this because it is aware that the Private Sector is not capable of accommodating most persons coming out of the University of Guyana (UG).
Therefore, the new programme will help government understand how to go about training such individuals. “We need to do an audit of the type of skills that we really do need in Guyana. We are a little off-track in training, especially locally. UG needs to take up the mantle… we do not want everyone to obtain a degree in management. I wonder how many managers we are going to get. We need technical people too, at the bottom, who are not managers,” Minister Westford said.
“We have more social workers than we will ever need coming out of UG and we need to change our focus a bit. This will only happen once we have that collaboration with the private sector.
The minister informed the CRMA staff that though they may have a nice office, it is really the attitude they have on the job that will make a difference. “Too often we see people bringing their personality differences in the work place. It doesn’t augur well for development in the workplace,” she stated, adding, “I don’t want you to like people in here, but you have to be able to work together and tolerate each other for the betterment of the work environment. We must not wait for the trade unions to tell us how to deal with our workers. Let us not give the trade unions the tools to fight against us.”
Also present at the launch were Permanent Secretary within the Labour Ministry Trevor Thomas; Chief Recruitment and Manpower Officer Valerie Moore; Programme Manager of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Trevor Clark; Former Education Minister Dale Bisnauth; and President of the Guyana Manufacturing Association Clinton Williams.