There has been an increase in the number of jobseekers as well as in the demand for labour, coupled with a decrease in applications for redundancies, for the first quarter of this year.

This was revealed in the first press conference held yesterday by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs at which it provided an overview of the local labour market.

According to chief policy analyst Susan Morel, the pandemic has placed the employment sector at the centre of economic and social challenges, necessitating the review of employment policies and programmes, and the establishment of measures to adapt to the new realities.

Statistics produced by the department indicate an increase in the number of jobseekers during the first quarter of the year on account of the discontinuation of employment programmes such as the Unemployment Relief Scheme (URS) and the Seychelles Employee Transition Scheme (SETS), and increased redundancies.

In addition, the market has also seen an increase in demand for labour, meaning more job opportunities are becoming available, as well as fewer applications for redundancies following government policy announcements.

Providing an overview of the month of March 2021, Ms Morel noted a total of 1125 jobseekers who registered with the Employment Services Section, at the department’s newest office. Of the 1125 individuals, 679 were females and 442 males. As expected, the majority of jobseekers are from Mahé, although the figure for both Praslin and La Digue is higher than normal, Ms Morel said, with 203 jobseekers from Praslin and a further 78 from La Digue.

Of the jobseekers who registered in March, 532, representing 47 percent of the total group, had post-secondary education certification while 355 or 32 percent had secondary education, making it hard to place these individuals in employment, Ms Morel added.

Despite the high number of jobseekers over the first three months, the number of jobseekers has started to decline as of April, whereby 312 jobseekers registered for the service.

With regard to redundancies, Ms Morel noted a total of 71 applications for redundancies between January to March, with regard to 346 workers, slightly higher than the same time period in 2020 in relation to 310 workers. Only six applications were submitted in January comprising 35 workers to be made redundant, but the months of February and March saw 128 and 183 applications respectively.

“Despite the increase over the first quarter of 2021, it is a significant decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, where we recorded 1624 workers who were to be made redundant. Even for April and May 2021, we are seeing the decrease is continuous. Even if we consider more recent timeframes, in April, we received applications to make 17 workers redundant, and for the month of May, until May 7, we received just one,” Ms Morel noted.

“Another observation is that it is mainly Seychellois workers who are being made redundant, as compared to non-Seychellois workers, partly attributed to the size and composition of the workforce of the companies applying for redundancies,” Ms Morel highlighted.

Over the three-month time period, 2225 vacancies were registered with the employment department, including positions from companies with a Certificate of Entitlement (COE). The industries representing the highest vacancies were accommodation and food service activities, followed by construction and manufacturing, attributed to the opening of new hotels, business expectations of the economy’s performance following the launch of the national immunisation campaign against Covid-19.

On the other hand, positive trends indicate that there are more work opportunities for Seychellois labour. Policies means that we are approving less posts for foreign workers especially in tourism so despite demand, situation needs to be closely monitored especially in sectors where there is skill mismatch or which Seychellois are not interested, such as construction.

Coupled with the increase in labour demand is an increase in demand of non-Seychellois workers, with 2129 posts out of 2730 for non-Seychellois requested only for the month of March. This is similar to the demands of the market pre-Covid whereby in January to March 2020, there were 2938 posts requested by employers.

“The increased labour demand in the first quarter of 2021 represents a positive outlook for the labour market as there are more job opportunities for locals in industries which have previously been affected by the pandemic.

“The department, with its new strategy, is approving fewer posts for non-Seychellois workers, especially in the tourism industry, thus placing priority for locals to be placed in employment first. However, we still need to consider that demand for labour is not as high as pre-Covid. Also, the requirements of available jobs versus local skills remains to be monitored as an important number of demand is from the construction and manufacturing industries, and areas where locals are not willing to work, or there is a work shortage,” Ms Morel concluded, highlighting the need for jobseekers, workers and employers to consider re-skilling and training, given the uncertainty presented by the pandemic.

For his part, principal secretary Jules Baker outlined the various strategies and measures being implemented by the department to address the challenges and constraints on the labour market as a result of the pandemic.

Among the strategies the department is engaged in is to advertise on behalf of private sector organisations with ten plus vacancies to ensure that all jobseekers can access job opportunities.

Vacancies are being advertised only in print media and thus not everyone could access it.

Furthermore, the ministry is channelling efforts towards profiling and skills matching, and is in discussion with relevant authorities to introduce flexible working hours and business models, so as to cater to this group of workers who are currently not catered for, namely, recovering addicts, teenage mothers, single mothers, school drop-outs and persons with limited functionality, and to provide them an opportunity to contribute towards the local market and economy.

As for the industries in which there are difficulties attracting and retaining local labour power, PS Baker stated that the department is also in negotiations with professional centres to offer short courses, and encourage Seychellois to join these industries, including agriculture, environment and climate change and fisheries where demand for labour is high.

“We are still blessed in Seychelles because the unemployment rate stands at 3.3 percent today, as compared to the other states in the region where the unemployment rate is much higher, and many are suffering because of no employment. But it is the inverse for us, because despite Covid-19, there is still demand for labour. The 2000 plus applications for Gainful Occupation Permits (GOP) shows us one simple thing, that we still need employees. We need people to supply businesses,” PS Baker stated.

Considering the ongoing challenge with a choosy and selective labour force, Minister Patricia Francourt reiterated her message for Seychellois workers to seize all opportunities at their disposal and to join the labour force towards a stable labour market, and eventually contribute positively towards the recovery of the domestic economy.

Laura Pillay