Jobs without people and people without jobs. The issue is not a lack of opportunities or a lack of talent. It is a widening disconnect between what employers need and what the labour market is producing.”
Tourism is a people business, and our people are the heart of the visitor experience. Resorts can be built, aircraft can be purchased and infrastructure can be upgraded, but the warmth, professionalism and authenticity of Fijian hospitality cannot be imported, manufactured or replicated.
That is why one of Fiji’s most pressing economic contradictions deserves far more attention than another debate about immigration quotas or foreign recruitment.
Across tourism and hospitality, employers are struggling to fill jobs. Opportunities exist at every level, from entry-level positions that provide young people with their first foothold in the workforce to highly skilled technical, supervisory and management roles.
The industry needs chefs, engineers, accountants, housekeepers, dive instructors, marine crew, aviation professionals, administrators and managers. Yet despite substantial investment in tertiary education and vocational training, employers consistently report difficulty finding candidates with the qualifications, practical experience and workplace readiness they need.
At the same time, thousands of Fijians are looking for work, underemployed, or unable to find opportunities that match their training and aspirations.
That is the paradox: jobs without people, people without jobs. The issue is not a lack of opportunities or a lack of talent. It is a widening disconnect between what employers need and what the labour market is producing.
Until we address that gap, foreign recruitment will remain a symptom of the problem, not the solution.
The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation has raised similar concerns, noting that student non-completion of Tertiary Scholarships & Services (TSLS) courses has cost taxpayers $235 million with only 53 per cent of graduates finding employment in the past three years, while the National Skills Gap Assessment Survey found that employment of foreign workers has risen by 79 per cent in the last three years. In fairness, the TSLS says not all of those cases are academic failures. But whatever the breakdown, the question is the same.
Is public money in training producing people who are ready for the jobs that exist? Employers across Fiji say an emphatic “No!”.
To be clear, tourism businesses do not look overseas because they prefer foreign workers over Fijians, although that might be debatable elsewhere based on productivity. Our first choice has always been to recruit, train and promote local talent. A Fijian who starts in an entry-level role and grows with a business becomes part of its foundation, carrying institutional knowledge, leadership potential and an authentic understanding of Fijian hospitality that cannot be taught in a classroom.
The warmth, generosity and genuine care that visitors remember long after their holiday ends are not skills that need to be scripted. They are part of who we are. They are among Fiji’s greatest competitive advantages.
But businesses operate on reality or shuts down. A restaurant without a chef must still serve dinner. A resort without engineers must keep the lights on.
A dive operation without qualified instructors that stops taking guests, risks making their reservations, reception, boatmen, drivers and management teams unemployed.
When critical positions remain vacant for months, employers must choose between reducing services, turning away business and looking beyond Fiji’s borders for workers who can step into the role immediately. When businesses close – wages and taxes stop being paid.
But we also understand why graduates, jobseekers and unions are uneasy about foreign recruitment. Their concerns are legitimate. No one wants to see opportunities that could have been filled by a qualified Fijian go elsewhere. But public debate too often focuses on the symptom rather than the cause.
Foreign recruitment is not evidence that employers are turning their backs on local workers. It is evidence that the domestic skills pipeline is not keeping pace with the rate at which the economy is creating jobs. Put simply, Fiji is generating demand for labour faster than it is producing work-ready people with the skills and experience employers need.
Tourism is part of that story, but it is far from the whole story. Economic growth is being driven across multiple sectors. Construction is expanding to meet demand for housing, tourism infrastructure and commercial developments.
More than $1 billion in annual remittances is fuelling consumer spending, supporting growth in retail, supermarkets, white goods, vehicle sales and household investment. Increased economic activity is driving demand for transport, logistics, manufacturing, food production and hospitality.
Every one of these expanding sectors is competing for the same pool of workers. Then add the expectation of over 1000 more rooms coming online over the next year and that pool of skilled workers shrinks to negligible numbers.
The result is a labour market paradox: vacancies coexist with unemployment. Employers are searching for skilled workers while jobseekers struggle to find opportunities that match their qualifications and expectations.
The real question, therefore, is not why some businesses recruit overseas. The real question is why Fiji can have jobs without people and people without jobs at the same time. Until we close that gap, foreign recruitment will remain a pressure valve for a growing economy rather than a cause of the problem itself.
The long-term solution is not a bigger immigration program. It is a stronger Fijian workforce pipeline, one that aligns education, training and industry needs so that more Fijians are equipped to seize the opportunities growth is creating.
At its core, this is a mismatch between the skills being produced and the skills employers need, compounded by a limited understanding of the pace and breadth of development taking place across Fiji.
Restricting immigration may ease public concerns, but it will not close that gap. Businesses cannot hire people who are not yet trained, experienced or work-ready.
If we want more Fijians in more jobs, then more Fijians must have access to training that reflects real labour market demand, practical workplace experience and the competencies employers are actively seeking. Simply telling industries to absorb workforce shortages without addressing the structural causes does not solve the problem.
It merely shifts the burden onto employers, who must then invest additional time and resources into training, supervision and workforce development before new recruits can operate independently.
Those costs do not disappear. They flow through the economy in the form of higher operating costs, reduced productivity and ultimately higher prices for consumers. Businesses end up duplicating a role that education and training systems should already be performing.
The answer is not less training, but better alignment. Training programs must be designed in genuine partnership with the industries expected to hire their graduates. Curricula should evolve as industries must and do evolve – influenced by global practice and consumer demand. Work-integrated learning, apprenticeships, internships and industry placements should be embedded, not treated as optional extras.
The goal should not simply be to produce more graduates. It should be to produce more graduates who can walk into a workplace and contribute from day one.
What employers call “work ready”. That is how we reduce reliance on foreign recruitment, strengthen opportunities for local workers and ensure Fiji’s workforce grows at the same pace as Fiji’s economy.
Then there is the question of funding. Employers contribute over $25 million annually through training levies, yet many struggle to access those same resources to train, upskill and reskill the people already in their workforce.
At a time when Fiji is seeking higher productivity, stronger economic growth and less reliance on overseas labour, that approach warrants rethinking. If employers are expected to help close the skills gap, they should have a stronger voice in how training funds are invested and a clearer pathway to accessing them.
More fundamentally, Fiji needs a deliberate national workforce strategy. Not another discussion paper or review that gathers dust on a shelf, but a practical plan that brings Government, tertiary institutions, training providers and employers to the same table.
A plan that identifies priority skills shortages, aligns training with real labour market demand and sets measurable targets for graduate employment, workforce participation and skills development. A plan with clear accountability, clear timelines and outcomes the public can track.
The private sector stands ready to be part of that solution. Industry has consistently called for deeper collaboration, stronger partnerships and greater alignment between training and employment.
But no single employer, training institution or industry can rebuild a national workforce system on its own. That requires leadership, coordination and commitment at a national level.
The stakes are larger than filling vacancies. Workforce capability will determine Fiji’s competitiveness, productivity and ability to sustain economic growth in the decades ahead. Every unfilled position represents lost output.
Every graduate unable to find relevant work is untapped potential. Every business forced to look abroad for skills it would prefer to find at home is a signal that the system is falling short of its purpose.
Because the real measure of success is not how many people pass through a classroom. It is how many leave it equipped to build a career, contribute to their community and strengthen the nation.
Every Fijian student who graduates into meaningful employment makes a business stronger, supports a family and community, enriches the visitor experience and expands the opportunities available to the next generation.
That is not just a workforce outcome. It is a national outcome, and one worth planning for.
FANTASHA LOCKINGTON is the CEO of Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association. The views expressed are not necessarily those of The Fiji Times. To share a comment or thoughts on the article, please send email to info@fhta.com.fj
