Academic suggests more focus be placed on promoting decent work

 

With more Jamaicans being employed in the local economy, Dr. Samuel Braithwaite, lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of the West Indies, Mona, says focus should be placed on promoting decent work in the various sectors.

 

The International Labour Organization considers decent work as fair income, a secure form of employment and safe working conditions.

 

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) on Tuesday reported that the unemployment rate for April this year was 4.5 per cent, the lowest it has been in the country's history.

 

Dr. Braithwaite, who was a guest Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM, said it is important to assess the quality of these jobs. 

 

"The information we have received doesn't speak to the quality of work, whether people have decent work. That is the real issue that we have to be concerned about. So as good as these numbers are, we still have to constantly remind ourselves that lots of people do not have decent work. Many of them might very well be under-employed. Those who are sufficiently skilled might be looking to jump on a plane and go elsewhere, whether teachers, nurses, professionals, you name it," he reasoned. 

 

STATIN says the decline in the unemployment rate was attributable primarily to an increase in the number of women who joined the labour force.

 

The number of people employed in April 2023 increased by 43,300 to 1,312,600.