Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency honours 25 companies

The Ministry of Labour’s Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA) on Wednesday, held an awards ceremony to honour 25 companies that provide employment opportunities for Guyanese.

These companies’ partnership with the agency makes available employment for job seekers who may not have otherwise completed formal tertiary education in any specialised area.

In his feature address, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton touched on some of the issues that affect the workforce in Guyana, with emphasis on local content readiness.

“As a nation, we must address what is schooling, what is learning, and what is education…because our education system is geared towards celebrating only people who have excelled in academics… how we fashioned education [is important] to ensure [that] at early age children who have technical and vocational aptitude can be educated”

The ministry’s permanent secretary, Bishram Persaud acknowledged the contribution of the CRMA-partnered companies that make these opportunities possible.

“This event seeks to recognise the contribution which our employers make to our society as a whole and in particular to job seekers whom they have empowered with jobs through collaboration with the CRMA.”

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Timothy Tucker supported the minister’s advocacy for flexible skills training outside of the formal education system.

“Without an adequate and well-trained workforce, we can’t realise our potential, we can’t realise the revenue, and we will not be able to capture it; you will have an issue with us attaining our local content requirements because of course Guyana and Guyanese businesses will have to compete with foreign businesses, which will come and erode whatever earnings we are planning to gain,” Tucker noted.

The awardees are Atlas Security Service, Bettencourt Homestyle, Carnegie School of Home Economics, DeSinco Trading, Demerara Distillers Limited, Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital, Edward B. Beharry Group of Companies, Food for the Poor Inc., Guyana Energy Agency, Guyana National Bureau of Standards, Guyana National Newspaper Limited, Guyana Post  Office Corporation, GUYBISCO International Inc. KM Cleaning & Janitorial Service, R & M Bhaichandeen, Resh Gift Centre & Variety Store, Sterling Products Inc., Summersons Furniture Store, Toolsie Persaud Limited, Unicomer, Volunteer Youth Corps, WB Cleaning and Janitorial Services, Wieting and Richter, Wings Aviation, and Neberth Fordyce (retiree).

CRMA offers free employment services, and the agency fills vacancies in clerical and office support, craft and related workers, plant and machinery, and skilled and semi-skilled workers.

The agency launched the country’s first national job bank in March, to enable thousands of Guyanese to browse job opportunities from the comfort of their homes.

Persons can access the website at https://jobs.gov.gy