Guyana finalising human capital strategy to tackle labour shortage

– to tap Diaspora to fill existing gaps

The Guyana Government is in the final stages of completing a comprehensive human capital strategy aimed at tackling the ongoing labour shortage in the country amidst its exponential economic growth.
This was revealed by President Irfaan Ali on Friday during an appearance on the British podcast, “The Rest Is Politics: Leading with Alastair Campbell”.
President Ali becomes the first sitting President from the Americas to be featured on the programme.
Speaking about the unprecedented growth that Guyana is experiencing as a result of its burgeoning oil and gas industry, the Head of State highlighted the challenges the country is facing, given its lack of human resource capacity to keep up with the widespread transformation.
“For the growth that is taking place, we don’t have the size of the labour force [to meet the demand.] The human resource capital is just too small to fuel this growth that is taking place,” he explained.
In fact, the President noted that to fill demand, his Government has introduced incentives such as tax breaks to encourage persons to work second jobs.
Additionally, in order to tackle the country’s labour shortage, the Head of State revealed plans to roll out the human capital strategy that will see emphasis placed on tapping into the vast expertise in the diaspora.
“[The diaspora] is a big part of the strategy. So, we are now finalising that human capital strategy, which is linked to the migration strategy and the type of human capital that we need,” the Guyanese leader stated.
One category of workers that Guyana is facing a shortage in is healthcare professionals, and, with the Government building out a modern healthcare system, Ali noted that while they are training personnel for the long-term needs of the country, they are simultaneously working to fill the current gaps.
“The world is going through a crisis in healthcare. For example, nurses are moving around globally… The UK (United Kingdom) is recruiting heavily. In the Caribbean [and] in Guyana, we’ve all suffered from that. So, we have those same challenges, because we are building out a modern healthcare system that requires specialists, requires specialisations and requires a certain quality of nurses.”
“So, whilst we are building out our capacity to train nurses, pharmacists, technologists, and doctors to meet this future requirement, in the medium term we will have – and we [do] have – major shortages, and we have been recruiting,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Head of State went on to note during the podcast that the human capital strategy will also look at restructuring Guyana’s education system to deliver the skills that are required now, not only in healthcare but in other sectors as well.
“This human capital strategy will be used to structure the education system to deliver what we want now and for the future, but also to examine the gap that exists. The human resource information system gap would allow us to understand where that gap exists and where the potential areas are we can recruit human capital from to fill this gap,” he added.
Only earlier this week, President Ali had stated that the thousands of Guyanese nurses who left Guyana over the years to seek better-paying jobs would soon be returning home to take advantage of the high pay package that the Government will offer.
Speaking at a public meeting on the campaign trail held at Alexander Village, Georgetown, on Wednesday, the Guyanese leader had noted, “Within the next five years, all the nurses who left are going to come back because what we are going to give our nurses here will make it make no sense for them to be anywhere else… They’re coming back because we are building stronger and better, and Guyana today is a land of opportunity.”
Just last month, President Ali had said he has instructed that all efforts be taken to ensure that the human resources gaps in the local medical field are filled in the short term, as the country trains its own cohort of medical professionals.
“I’ve mandated the Minister of Health to ensure that we bring in every single skill that is needed in this short to medium term. Whatever skill level, he has the authority to bring that skill level – because I do not want to hear that we don’t have the doctors, the nurses, the lab technicians or anyone at these hospitals to provide quality care. The PS [Permanent Secretary] and the Minister, they are responsible for this. And they have absolutely no excuse because I’ve given the Minister full authority to have this done,” the Head of State stressed during the commissioning of the newly constructed Bath Regional Hospital – one of six such facilities that are being built across Guyana.
Only in July, Delhi-based recruitment firm Ansari Manpower Overseas Consultant published an advertisement inviting male and female nurses in India to work at Government hospitals in Guyana.
According to President Ali, “We are making too many investments to accept any level of service that is below par. This is not about the Government; this is about the people. They deserved the best that we’re investing in for them.”