The Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation (FCEF) has urged the Government and training institutions to shift focus toward addressing Fiji’s local labour market needs before expanding participation in overseas employment schemes.
The call comes ahead of the Ministry of Employment, Productivity & Workplace Relations opening registrations for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) and New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) schemes from today.
“While we applaud the Ministry’s announcement that only those who are unemployed or have no source of income will be eligible to register for the overseas labour mobility schemes, there have been instances where employers have received resignations from staff just to register for the overseas schemes,” said FCEF CEO Edward Bernard.
According to preliminary findings from the 2023–24 Employment & Unemployment Survey, Fiji currently has 18,073 unemployed people.
“These statistics indicate that perhaps we need to focus on addressing the employment and unemployment situation in our country first.”
“Before we look at prioritizing the labour and skills gaps of other countries, we must ensure that local enterprises and industries are adequately taken care of.”
Mr Bernard expressed concern over the long-term impact of overseas labour mobility programmes.
“In the last eight years, our national unemployment rate has only reduced by 0.10%, from 5.50% to 5.40%, while our youth unemployment rate has actually increased by 0.20%, from 18.10% to 18.30%,”.
“We must question what developmental impact the overseas labour mobility schemes have had as our people continue to be unemployed, our businesses cannot find local skilled workers and are bringing in foreign workers, and our labour market is extremely distorted.”