Job hunt turns ugly

Tempers flared, three fights broke out and police were called in as more than 5 000 people showed up for the biggest employment drive in Barbados in recent times.

With security and job recruitment personnel stretched to the limit to serve queues winding from the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC) down to the gates of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s official residence of Ilaro Court, Sandals Resorts International eventually put the brakes temporarily to the exercise to fill 600 posts.

Before then, there had been a few medical emergencies when some women who had been in the queues for hours collapsed because of reported asthma and anxiety attacks.

The recruitment continues today, but all indications are that it will be better arranged, possibly with a ticketing system and heavier police presence to ensure the queuing is orderly.

Even so, some people said they had been “turned off” by the unruly behaviour of a few and would not be returning to the LESC to apply for a job.