…requests list of skills available

IN an effort to absorb some of the sugar workers who were laid-off by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Deodat Indar has asked the corporation for a list of the various skillset of those workers in order to ensure that they are properly placed in the private sector.

Early this year, cash-strapped GuySuCo had to lay off some 4000 workers in order to keep the sugar industry viable but, the Government had forged ahead with training for those former employees, with support from the Small Business Bureau and other stakeholders.
Indar said the GCCI is also ready to do their part by ensuring that workers are not unemployed for a long time. “We want to match their skill to the kind of workers that employers in the private sector need, but we need a list from GuySuCo of all the skillset,” said Indar during his presentation to the ex-sugar workers of the Enmore Estate at a job fair on Monday.

He told the former sugar workers that GCCI alone has 200 companies which are members of the chamber. Indar believes that those companies can take on the laid-off sugar workers but they need to know what the workers are capable of doing.
Most of the men who were present at the fair had worked in the sugar industry for almost all their working lives so Indar told them that some employers might want to exploit them by paying low wages/salaries because they believe that they (the workers) are not educated and do not have any kind of skill.

“It is a hard time but do not believe you are alone, some men are facing the same struggle but in a different way… we are not going to allow you to be beaten down,” said the GCCI President, adding that the former workers must stand strong for their families. He encouraged them to take a low-paying job, if necessary, until they get a job that is fitting to them as opposed to not having any source of income.

The laid-off workers were also advised to spend their severance carefully and in a way to sustain their family. “Do not rush into something and spend the little money you are going to receive…know what business you are going into because a lot of us go into business and cannot recover,” said Indar, adding that they have to be certain that they will get a return on their investment before investing.
For those who choose to save their severance and get a job, he advised them to be productive and give it their best.