Minister of Technological and Vocational Training Sandra Husbands has warned that Barbados does not have enough skilled workers to meet demand amid a construction boom.
As the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council’s launched Barbados Annual Construction and Design Conference (BACDC), Husbands said the shortage was being felt across the industry as a surge in hotel developments, road works, renewable energy projects, commercial buildings and public infrastructure projects continues.
She told reporters: “When you look around our country, what is it you’re seeing? We are seeing hotels being refurbished and expanded. We are seeing new hotels being built. And then there’s some that are still to come.”
Husbands pointed to the scale of the current construction activity, including the $800m Beaches Barbados, Sandals Heywoods development, as well as other hotel and residential projects.
She said the investment was creating opportunities beyond construction, with jobs also expected in hospitality and businesses supplying the projects.
But that growth had also exposed a shortage of labour, leaving householders struggling to find tradespeople for smaller jobs, she added.
“The people who may be experiencing the most pain will be householders who are struggling to find a carpenter to do something in their home or a mason to come and do some repairs because we simply do not have sufficient labour to be able to meet the demand in Barbados.”
Husbands described the situation as “a good problem to have”, but said it was one the Ministry of Technological and Vocational Training had been tasked with addressing by increasing opportunities for Barbadians to enter construction and hospitality.
According to Husbands, the shortage is partly a consequence of years of economic decline, when contractors struggled to secure work and young people were discouraged from pursuing construction careers.
“When you have several years of economic downturn and your contractors do not have work, those small contractors fold up and exit the industry,” she said.
“That then discourages young people leaving school from going and doing training in construction because there’s no job.”
The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed investment before a wave of construction projects arrived simultaneously, she said.
“So instead of coping with one or two hotels at a time, we now find ourselves with having to manage nine, all wanting foreign exchange, staffing, and supplies in order to get their investment to work.”
The result, she said, is a race to build the workforce quickly enough to satisfy investors while ensuring Barbadians are positioned to benefit from the resulting jobs.
“What’s the dilemma facing the country? Do you let the investment shift to Saint Lucia, or Guyana, or Jamaica? Or do you allow foreign labour to come in temporarily while you speed up your construction training and at least preserve the hospitality work that will come from over that construction?”
Husbands said the demand was being seen across a wide range of occupations, including plumbers, tilers, welders, masons, heavy equipment operators, refrigeration and construction supervisors.
The shortage was not unique to Barbados, with Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad, Tobago, and Jamaica also experiencing similar challenges.
One area where the shortage is particularly visible is among licensed heavy-duty truck drivers.
Husbands said companies were advertising vacancies and offering weekly salaries ranging from about $700 to more than $1 100 to attract qualified drivers, yet vacancies remained.
“Without drivers, materials don’t move, equipment does not move, and projects will slow down.”
The minister said Barbados had to accelerate its approach to technical and vocational training while changing perceptions that academic qualifications were the only route to success.
Technical and vocational occupations had been overlooked for too long, despite the demand for workers with practical skills and certification, she declared.
“Today, the realities of the labour market are telling us something different. The skilled trades matter, technical expertise matters, and certification matters.”
The Ministry of Technological and Vocational Training was created in part to help the labour force “pivot and embrace the lucrative careers that are available to them in the TVET space”, said Husbands.
But the workforce challenge was not limited to attracting people into the trades, she said, noting that employers were also raising concerns about work attitudes, behaviour and conduct.
“Many employers express concern not only that young people are not entering the construction sector in numbers, but also they are concerned about the work attitudes that our labor force now bring daily to the workplace.
“The technical skill is insufficient; the attitude with the skills will make them unstoppable.”
As part of the response, Husbands said the ministry intends to establish a programme specifically targeting existing contractors, allowing them to upgrade their skills and become familiar with modern construction technologies.
“One of the things we’re looking forward to is establishing a programme where we specially target the existing contractors and provide space and opportunity for them to get the necessary training through SJPI and BVTB, etc., so that they can upgrade their skills and use those modern technologies and stay in the game.”
Husbands also placed greater emphasis on certification, particularly for experienced workers who have developed skills on the job but lack formal qualifications.
“Certification is becoming the passport to opportunity.”
She identified prior learning assessment recognition as a “powerful passport to accelerating the career opportunities and mobility of thousands of Barbadians who have talent, who have experience and expertise, but never had a certificate in their life”.
The TVET Council and training institutions would have to help the country prepare not only new workers but also those already in construction for an industry increasingly shaped by technology, she said.
“Construction today is not simply about carrying blocks and mixing mortar,” Husbands said, pointing to digital technologies, project management systems, precision surveying, building diagnostics, sustainable design, smart technologies and drone operations.
Husbands said the BACDC forum would provide a platform for discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing the sector as Barbados continues to experience sustained development activity.
The country must use the current construction boom to build a labour force capable of meeting present demand while preparing workers for the changing nature of the industry, she added.
(LE)
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