Job fair ‘sign of the times’

While Sandals Barbados Resort and Spa is reporting a successful job fair, it is still a drop in the bucket in terms of Barbados’ employment woes.

In a telephone interview yesterday executive director of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, Tony Walcott, said it was a matter of stimulating the economy.

“All job fairs are a good thing although 600 jobs don’t do much of a job of denting the unemployment levels. In fact, the job fair was a sign of the challenges we are having in finding work for our people,” he said.

The Sandals job fair opened on Tuesday and around 6 000 people showed up looking for opportunities. The large number was unexpected and there were reports of fights and fainting although the other days were peaceful. The fair ended yesterday.

Walcott said he remained “hopeful yet apprehensive” of the Central Bank’s third quarter report as he said he was not seeing much growth in the economy.

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