Fiji’s labour market is facing growing structural challenges, with the newly released National Skills Gap Assessment (NSGA) Survey revealing that employers are struggling to fill 95 different jobs with local workers.
The survey found that the shortages span a wide range of industries and qualification levels, from high school graduates and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates to university-qualified professionals.
The findings have prompted calls for urgent reforms to labour market policies and better coordination between key institutions responsible for workforce development.
Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation chief executive officer Edward Bernard said the survey exposed major disconnects within the country’s employment and education systems.
“The institutions that are supposed to be strengthening our labour market are not working together,” Bernard said.
“Most of the efforts of these institutions are fragmented and not coordinated. The Ministry of Employment seem too focused on supplying workers for the Australian and New Zealand labour market while our Education Sector is not able to push out adequate and quality graduates to the labour market.”
The report also highlights a troubling trend among young people, with 26.6 per cent classified as not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), despite jobs remaining available in the market.
According to Bernard, the inflow of remittances is also affecting workforce participation, with many economically active Fijians opting not to work locally.
He said about $1.4 billion in remittances entering the country annually may be contributing to reduced labour participation, while approximately 11,000 economically active Fijians registered with the National Employment Centre are waiting for overseas employment opportunities and are therefore unavailable for local jobs.
The survey further revealed a significant rise in the use of foreign workers.
“When compared to the proportion of growth against local employment, the survey results indicate that the proportion of foreign workers grew by 79 per cent — indicating structural gaps in the ability of local institutions to supply local workers with the right qualifications, skills and behaviours,” Bernard said.
The NSGA Survey was led by the Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation in partnership with the Fiji Human Resource Institute and the Higher Education Commission Fiji, with funding support from the Ministry of Finance.
It is the first labour demand survey published in Fiji.
The survey was conducted by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics between November 2025 and February 2026, targeting 410 companies and achieving a 91 per cent response rate.
Employers that participated in the survey collectively account for 33.4 per cent of Fiji’s formal sector workforce.
Researchers used three reference periods — December 31, 2022, December 31, 2024 and August 31, 2025 — to assess labour market trends and workforce demands.
